The Defector
by SuperIntendant
Summary: The Locust are portrayed as a savage and thick race. But what will one intelligent Theron do when his beliefs are conflicted by his sense of morality.
1. The Surface

I cocked the bolt back on my lancer and felt the familier comfort of the metal weight, the rough feel of the grip resting in my hand. Why did it feel so good, maybe its the way us locust are raised; maybe its genetic? I doesnt mater, at least we were trained to think that it didnt matter. That really is how it works around here. I ask why its like that all the time but the response is always the same. Whenever I try to enage in conversation with the other Locust the response is always a grunt or complete ignorance.

If you havent guessed it yet, yes im a Locust, more importantly a Theron. You see upon our birth we are screened for intelligance, this determines our furtur role in society and lifestyle. I was (by the random hand of fate) the most intelligant Locust to ever be born. I was instantly destined to be a Kantus right from the beggining. But of course, my intelligance and curiosity got the better of me while I was being raised by the Kantuses. I began to question everything, this would often lead to severe punishment or smack across the face. After a few years they finally gave up on me and sent me to train as a Theron, hopeing that would teach me how to be a real Locust. Did it? Well were about to find out, after all; the Locust are about to launch are first attack on the beings that inhabit Seras surface. I heard theyre called humans and im about to kill them.

I questioned the idea of attacking a species who have done nothing to harm us and have been described as soft, pink sacks of meat. This got me many quisical looks from the Generals and a beating from a young Officer named RAAM. Its almost as though everone else thinks its necassery to kill a species who dont even know we exist. I always feel that this whole problem is something to do with that mysterious creature that appeared a few years back, although I would never admit it under risk of execution or exile. She just came from nowhere and use here superior intelliagance to assert herself as queen. Most see here as a Mesiah but I see her as a blight on my people, using my people to complete her buisness.

I met here once; during the setup of her hasty coronation when I began to question her. She happily and calmly answered all my question until I asked what was she. She replied ...

"Why I am simply a Locust like you or them".

After declaring that was wrong she ordered for me to be locked in the room of penance during the whole coronation.

I wish others would see what shes doing. Shes just using us as tools to get her dirty work done, whatever it is I bet this war has something to do with it. I sighed and shouldered my Lancer as the Corpser finally broke to the surface.

"Oh well, just another dirty job to do"

And I jumped out of the hole and into the bright light beyond. My first instinct was to shield my eyes from the bright disc in the sky. I think they call it a sun. I then realised that I was standing in the open. Quickly I dived for cover; as my eyes adjusted I realised that there were no opposing forces returning fire. Just fleeing civilians being gunned down with each step they took. This isnt how a war is fought, they were just harmless people, not enemy soldiers. I quickly broke back into action and followed my team into a nearby skyscraper. I had to admit that these humans had a unique taste in style. The whole reception was painted a creamy grey and had plenty of strange green plants; much different from the red and white ones down in the hollow. There was also a big gold plaque on the wall above the reception desk with some wierd symbols written on it. 'Char Imulsion CO'. I had no idea what any of those symbols meant, but they seemed familier enough. Drawing my attention back to the task at hand I began to follow my squad down the stairs into what looked like a large storage basement.

We spent a while down there while [airs wemt around the building searching for something. The Generals and Officers seemed to be expecting something that we didnt, this was considered fairly strange among the troops but was accepted either way. After about an hour of waiting one pair returned with a particularly odd human. Unlike most who cowered and feared for their life, this man stood tall and was very aggresive towards his captors. What was even more surprising was that the human was not being shot, despite his extremely aggresive demeanor. He wore black tinted glasses and seemed to lack any of that human fur on the top of his head. He started to shout.

"Dont you ugly ass shits know who I am. If you did you would be very worried, im Aaron Griffin. Do you freaks even understand me".

One Officer named Fury steped forward and shouted in the humans lamguage.

"SHUT UP"!

He then punched him across the face knocking the human unconcious. Just then I heard a sound louder than a hollow collapse and felt a seering heat wash over me. The whole ground began to quake and things began to crumble. This wasnt going to end rumbling went on for about 10 minutes and varied in intensity until it was just a light vibration in the distance. The heat seemed to haved seared the red paint off my armor so I was walking around bleach bone. The mysterious human woke up just then but he stayed his tongue. Good, that was probably for the best. Officer Fury walked over to me and spoke quietly into my ear so no one else could hear.

"Take this human to any open E-Hole and down to the hollow. He knows much of Immulsion and could prove beneficial".

I nodded and grabed the human by his colar.

"I will deal with it sir".

He nodded and passed me a Torque bow to use.

"Take this, you have earned it".

I thanked him again and began dragging the human up the stairs. Enterring the now destroyed lobby I noticed there were alot more humans huddled on the floor with the other squad from my team surrounding them. One by one the humans were beaten and shot. The captive spoke up.

"No you cant, theyre my workforce, my family!"

Much of that sentance made no sense to me but the word family resonated deap inside and I knew what it meant.

I nevre really had a family being a Locust and something was building insided as I watched the Horde brutally murder the huddled creatures, similar to scared animals. The man named Griffin began to seath and moan and I swear I could feel the hurt in his voice. I dont know what happened that moment but something clicked inside and all my concerns came flooding back. This isnt right, I have to get out of here.

Stepping out into the streets I realised they were no longer streets. Burning trenches and collapsed buildings filled my vision. This isnt a war its genocide and murder and I suddenly decided I wasnt going to be part of it. Whatever we needed this human for, it would only lead to more destruction like this and that was never justified. Nudging the human into a state of alertness and checking no one was watching I took off down the road seeking a place to hide. I guess the human didnt know what was going on or was willing to come anyway.


	2. Forming a Trust

I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to know what to do. For once I wanted to sit in a hole and do nothing; just, watch the world burn around me. I felt miserable and that bastard sitting in the corner of the rubble wasn't helping at all. One person miserable is bad, two people miserable is just absolutely, horribly depressing. I had decided to tie him to a protruding pipe to stop him from doing anything stupid while I worked this out in my mind. For someone who had been captured he was taking it surprisingly well, maybe he was just freaking out inside.

I sighed and decided to try and do something. The first thing was to establish a neutral ground between us so we could at least not be at each other's throats the second I released him. I was smart, I could figure out a way. I tried Locust very doubtfully,

"I apologise for the problems me and my people have caused".

Nothing; I tried another language, this time ancient war monger

"Can you understand me at all".

Still nothing, I got impatient and began to swear in my natural tongue that I was taught under the Kantuses.

"Oh this is bloody hopeless. I'm stuck in a building surrounded by Myrah knows how many Locust looking for a traitors head on a pike and I'm stuck with a human who can't even understand me".

I swiped a block of rubble across the remains of the room and watched it fall down a large hole.

"I can understand you".

I looked up through sorry eyes and muttered

"What?"

He repeated himself

"I can understand you".

A look of shock and joy began to cross my face as I processed this through my mind. Then it dawned on me "You speak the royal tongue!" I quite literally burst out.

"This is amazing. It's strange but amazing... How do you know that language?"

He shrugged

"I was raised speaking English; its my native language".

I was stunned that he knew Royal tongue or what he called English perhaps even more so by the fact that he didnt seem to realise its importance. Anyone who could speak in the Royal tongue in the hollows was deemed to have quite a large intelligance. This even further supported my idea that these humans shouldn't die, because they were intelligent. This new revalation settled my resolve that these humnans did not need to die and I made up my mind on whos side I wanted to be on.

I stood up and walked over to the human.

"What is your name?"

I knelt down and pulled out a knife. He replied in a slightly worried tone.

"Aaron Griffin".

I smiled as best as I could for a Locust and cut the ropes holding him to the pipe. "Well Griffin, if we are to survive I will need your help". I held forward my Lancer and for a moment he seemed stunn ed by the gesture. He then smirked and grabed the Lancer, checking it was loaded. I havent held a gun since I was a kid down at the shooting range. I began to walk over the grey crumbling rubble and he followed keeping a low profile behind me. As we approached the wrecked walls of the courtyard I stoped and motioned for him to do likewise; peering over the ruble I noticed something weird or rather didn't notice anything at all. The streets were empty save a few Locust corpses. Were the civilians really putting up this much of a fight. I didn't matter, the only thing important right now is to make sure I get myself and Griffin to a safe place. I carefully moved out onto the street. Unlike most this street had only taken minor damage just like the buildings around it. I kicked up a large amount of dust and ash as I impacted with the floor with my Torque bow ready in hand. Our first order of buisness was to find somewhere safe to begin our planning and assure our temporary safety. Looking around the barren streets I eventually noticed a fairly intact Imulsion station. Perhaps there could even be a vehicle parked around the back. I motioned towards the station.

"Over there, we will have food, shelter and time".

He nodded and we began to jog towards the building, praying that no one would notice. As we approached the building I slung the Torque bow over my back and then started opening the door. WHACK! I fell to the ground, blood seeping from my nose. I attempted to get up but was greated with a boot to the chest pinning me to the floor. I struggled but instantly deceased when a Boltok barrel was shoved against my face, I froze on the spot as the large human began to talk in a very gruff voice.

"You've got 10 seconds to explain why your running round with a civy before I blow your brains all over the tarmac".

Griffin stepped forward and punched the man square across the jaw, sending him tumbling to the floor. The man quickly recovered but was instantly put back down by a kick to the gut from Griffins shoe. The man was lacking armor for his stomach so that wasn't too hard. The grunted and spoke.

"Just whos side are you on anyway"

Griffin contemplated this for a second, kicked the man in the face sending him reeling back and then said.

"My own!"

The big human got up and held his hands up as an act of surrender. Griffin steped back and the man imediately drew his sidearm and pointed it at Griffin.

"I want some answers from you, right after I deal with youre… Hey where'd he go".

I grabed the pistol from his hands from behind and pushed him to the floor. I then proceeded to empty the chambers of all the rounds. This puzzled the large human even further.

"Youre not going to shoot me?"

I starred down at him and replied.

"No. Have you not noticed I have been travelling with a human".

"I thought you had taken him captive".

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Yes. That explains why he has a Lancer in his hands".

The human began to move his mouth then stoped and then began to get up slowly.

"So youre not working with them other monsters"

An aggitated look crossed my face.

"No and my people are not monsters, but they have been misguided by one".

He analysed me up and down then stuck his hand out. I was confused about the gesture but Griffin leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"It's a hand shake. You take his hand and shake with him".

I reached out and did as instructed. The man began to smile and motioned for us to follow him inside. We began to walk behind him.

"My name is Russell, I know yours Mr Griffin but youre friend here. Do you have a name?"

I paused and stared at the floor.

"I don't have a name, they never gave me one".

Russell puased for a moment and began to ponder.

"Would you like one, youre going to need it being as were going to work together".

I nodded but hadnt the faintest clue on what to have for a name. Russell looked over me again.

"Well your quite a scary bloke so we need something intimidaiting and warrior like… I know! How about Varrick".

Griffin stared at him.

"Does that even mean anything!"

I spoke up.

"I quite like it".

Russell smiled.

"Varrick it is then".

He smiled triumphently as he steped through the door into the building. We followed behind cautiosly incase there were anymore jumpy people inside.

As we entered the room was that the place wasn't absaloutely wrecked. Of course it was coated with dust from the destruction outside seeping in. The cans were still perfectly stacked and the shelves still fully stocked. This came as an even bigger surprise when Russell called out and 15 people rose from behind the shelves 7 of which had weapons. Some were military grade but others were just old decommisioned or civy weapons.

"Lower your weapons people, theyre friendly".

The all lowered theyre weapons but some looked very confused. Others; just looked very, very angry. Russell seemed to pick up on this.

"Now I know youre all probably a little confused as to why we have one of the 'enemy' with us but hes not like the others. He has some sense of morality and doesn't seem as happy about the situation as you guys are. I would like to intoduce you to our friend Varrick".

I stepped forward and signed hello to them all. Griffin once again whispered into my ear. I corrected myself and began to wave instead which seemed odd for me but they seemed to understand it. Several waved back.

"Hello humans".

Several cowered and one raised his gun again. I noticed that the human hadnt even bothered to bolt the gun so I stepped forward and put gentle presure on the barrel making him lower it. Then with my other free hand I stuck it out to shake. The human didn't seem to enthuisiastic about this but accepted the shake anyway. Unlike Aaron and Russell this man had quite soft skin and it felt nice to shake. These humans really were delicate. All the more reason to protect them. Russell spoke up.

"I see your making aqaintance with my second in command Laurance. As you can see everone wearing blue armor is part of the Coalition of Governments or C.O.G for short".

Griffin didn't seem impressed.

"I know; you were the idiots who hammered this city. You've possibly killed more civilians than the enemy".

Russell lowered his head.

"I was against it and you have every right to be angry but right now we need to rest. Its been a long day and its getting dark outside".

We all agreed on that and went off to our own areas to sleep.

Most people slept and had nightmares during those horrible hours. Some woke up and dozed off again. Griffin slept soundly more from the exhaustion than the time of day. I however spent a large amount of the time sitting on a window sill looking out over the streets. Watching everything burn in the distance, the occasional sound of gunfire and at one point a blood curdling scream. I tried to doze of in a quick power nap that being a soldier taught you how to do. But with that the problem is that everytime something changes around you, youre instantly awake again. In the end I rested my head against the glass and closed my eyes, blocking everything out and eventually droping into blissful sleep.


	3. Fort of Tin & Concrete

**'Hey all who read this. If you've noticed that I'm uploading more than once a week this time, well that's because I'm planing on uploading this story as my first to deviant art also under the name of Chaotixspud (weird name I know). This is relevant because a friend on who I know personally and goes by the deviant name of minxymanx has suggested that on deviant art people tend to hate it immensely when updating is a couple of days off. So I'm building up a good bulk of writing sort of as an overflow, so don't get to used to the idea of more frequent updates. This is just a temporary thing.'**

Visions. They don't come very easily to most Locust but I always receive them quite vividly in my sleep. They are always very jumbled and often make no sense but keep some kind of anchor to reality. I often use them as a get away from most of my problems. This looked odd to most Locust as all they would see is me going for a nap every time I get angry or find something extremely challenging. They help me deal with tough situations, often giving me guidance towards all my lifes problems.

I woke up screaming. Looking around me I had obviously let off quite a primal one because everyone around me was backed up against the wall or stirring quite violently. I let off a really guilty smile and apologised; most people still hadn't got use to the idea that I could talk their language let alone any language at all. They seem to not care as much as they did last night though so I went along with it and ignored the few evil glances I got. Russell came along with a big smile on his face and he sat down next to me, his smile becoming a little more humble.

"Don't worry. People will get used to you soon. It just takes time is all".

I got up and slipped my Torque bow over my back and placed the Snub in its holster. Placing my helmet back on my head I moved over to the shelves and began to look for something edible. Sifting through the cans of stuff I found nothing that suited my basic dietary needs so I tried another shelf.

"Aargh, is there no meat".

Russell stepped forward and started helping me search.

"You know it would be easier for you to just eat some vegetables instead".

I grumbled and cursed.

"Can't. I'll just chuck them back up."

Russell looked fascinated.

"So your a carnivore then".

I looked at him and gave him a 'no duh' look, showing him my teeth. He raised his hands slightly in mock surrender and began to smile with that cheesy grin of his again.

"Fair enough, although I don't think everyone will appreciate you eating up all the meat and such".

"Do you have any rock worm canned".

"I beg your pardon, we don't have rockworm up here".

I looked at him with a pang of hunger and sighed.

"What do you have up here then".

He grabbed a large red can off the shelf and handed it to me".

'100% quality Pork meatballs'. I ripped the top off the can and tried one of the small meaty spheres. My tongue was instantly alive with flavour and taste.

"Wow these are amazing, do you eat these kinds of things all the time"

"I'm guessing they don't have fancy eating down below do they".

I stopped for a moment and glared at him.

"How did you know we came from underground".

He Shrugged and grabbed another can off the shelf.

"Well you certainly didn't come from the sky did you. Not to mention that you popped out of holes from the ground".

I was a little surprised that he had bothered to try and work it out. Let alone explain to me how he knew. Maybe some people did take an interest in us. Albeit slim and even then only to defeat the Locust probably. Besides just because something is scary doesn't mean it cant be interesting.

I finished the last of the can and returned to the rest of the group. Russell did likewise as we all gathered around for a meeting. Well everyone except Griffin, I hadn't seen him all morning and I was begging to get a bit concerned. Perhaps he had went off to grab something from the back of the station. That was probably it but there was something nagging at the back of my mind. Oh well it would have to slip for now, I will address it later. The tiles here crunched and cracked beneath my boot and heavy armour. We were all stuffed into a tight ring in which the centre was a table with a map on it. The man I remembered that Russell had called Laurance stepped forward.

"Alright people you all know what we need to do. This place in its current condition wont sustain or hold us, so we need a plan of action".

One man stepped forward. From the withered look on his face and the drab clothes he wore, he was obviously a civilian that had been through a lot.

"Me, my family and friends have been discussing. Since we are the majority of people here we think our idea of fortifying this place and remaining here should be followed".

Many nods and agreements were muttered. Most people seemed to like the idea of not having to go out into the dangerous world and just holding this little area until rescue came. It seemed plausible but I decided something needed to be said about this. I stepped forward which instantly drew cold stares from everyone around me and an especially evil glance from the man who had just stepped forward. I cleared my throat and began to speak in the best 'English' I could muster, after all I would need these people to associate themselves with me and now seemed as good a time as any other.

"As easy and simple it would be to implement this plan there are several problems that would make this a very bad idea. First off the materials we would need to implement this strategy would have to be scavenged from the area around us which would mean constantly going out and potentially bringing the Locust back here every time. Second we would need weapons and there is only one source of weapons at the moment and I know no one wants to fight my people that much. Finally when the Locust do find out where we are which is only a matter of time, they will send things that we wont even have a chance of beating. The best solution is to pack up what we can and move out for a better area, possibly even C.O.G territory".

While the prospect of getting into the safe hands of human owned ground was nice, most people were still settled in the idea that they would be safer to hold up here, rather than risk going out there towards the people they were hiding from. I was about to bring up even more problems with this idea to do with food and such when Griffin came bursting through the door with a look of pure terror on his face. Russell walked over to Griffin and put a hand on his back.

"What's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost".

Aaron looked up at him, the look still not fading as he spoke.

"No, much worse".

Russell suddenly got what he meant and grabbed his rifle off the sideboard and checked to see if it was loaded.

"Alright people were about to get hit by the Locust so I want everyone who is combat able ready for action and all others to provide medical and other support roles".

Everyone didn't seem to happy about this but it was their only way of surviving. This was the original plan after all. But I don't think everyone wants to hold down a fort of tin and concrete.

Denny's Imulsion Stop

11:03 13-09-2011

'Aaron Griffin'

The ice cold wind bit at my lip but I completely ignored it as I waited for the inevitable foe to round the corner and engage us. It was a very tense atmosphere and no-one could see that better then me and Varrick up on the roof. Laurance had since taken Varrick's lancer and had swapped it with a longshot from someone who was a little more experienced with mid to close range. I couldn't argue and Russell gave me a quick lesson on how to use it efficiently without wasting ammo; Varrick had even went through all the sweet spots on his species rock hard skin and armour. I don't think he was very comfortable giving this information to people who still didn't trust him very much. Nonetheless the information was out there and hopefully they would understand and trust him a bit more for giving them this chance for survival. Russell began to patrol the line below giving reassurance to people who had never fought before or even held a gun for that matter. As snipers go Varrick said that this one was pretty simple to use, just point at the person you want to drop and pull the trigger. I don't think he could bring himself to say kill, after all these were his own people. I could sympathise to an extent. They may have been monsters but after all he was one of them, even if he didn't have the same mindset. Varrick didn't like the cold at all, you could tell through the way in which he constantly shifted his position to keep himself warm. He had also retro fitted a scope to the side of his large bow like device so he could help me snipe from the roof; I think he called it a Torque bow.

I felt very guilty about this, if I hadn't went out to look for friends who lived in a house nearby then none of this would of happened. I had went into the building and looked around, discovering nothing but their corpses I ran out the house completely forgetting to check if the streets were clear. I had in fact drawn the attention of a nearby patrol, several followed while one ran back; possibly to get more forces. They obviously knew I was the man their leaders were looking for. They probably also knew that somewhere nearby was the traitor who helped me escape. I had accidentally lead them back to our one current safe house.

It didn't matter now. The damage had already been done so it was up to all of us to fix it. Time slowed suddenly as the ground began to rumble and the first lot of grubs began to round the corner. My fingers stiffened as the adrenaline began to rush all over my body like a large tidal wave. Without thinking I moved my scope sight over the closest grub and squeezed down the trigger; I could feel Varrick flinch next to me but he did not move other than that as he began to charge his Torque bow. The first bolt impacted in the sternum of a grub pressed up against a low concrete wall, instantly killing it and killing 3 around him from the explosion. Varrick mumbled something about Fury's bow having a lot more juice, I didn't pay to much attention as I was in the heat of combat. Bolting the gun I found another foe to drop and squeezed the trigger yet again. BANG! Another one dropped dead, this time without a head and blood gushing from the severed area of his neck. I fought my gut to keep its content inside were it should be and I just managed. In the time it had taken me to pull off two more shots Varrick had fired another 6 and was down to his last bolt. Some scavenging was needed and would be performed afterwards but for now he would have to pick his last target carefully.

Down on the ground Russell's adept skills had managed to keep everyone high on morale and keep a solid firing line meaning that so far there were no casualties. You could actually see the twisted smiles forming on peoples faces as the drones dropped before them while they attempted to rush the heavily held position. After a while the sounds of guns began to fade a but as the last of the Locust held a gap between the opposing lines. Hopes looked high and people were getting eager to finish the last of the enemy off. Looking down I saw one of Russell's men rev his lancers chainsaw and jumped over the hastily formed barricades sprinting towards the Locust position. Russell yelled.

"Mike. No!"

It was too late, the noticeable sound of metal scraping metal went off as a large bolt impacted into mike's gut. He had a second to look down before his torso was torn from his waist and other various bods parts flew across the tarmac. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I emptied my stomachs contents on the floor to my right side and then proceeded to edge a little closer to Varrick and away from the sickly mess I had left in a little puddle. I could feel Varrick practically seething and hissing with rage in the whisper the Theron commanders taught him to talk. He rose from his position very slowly and then sprang into action as he jumped from the roof of the station.


	4. One Angry Customer

**First off I would like to thank everyone who has read me story and kept it near the front of the pages. I would also like to give thanks fo**r **the reviews I have received so far. I honestly didn't believe people would like it this extent but hey as long as its successful ill continue too write (I may even extend it a bit) :). Take care and keep on writing people.**

**Super Intendant :p**

Smash! My boots impacted on the road as a second bolt whizzed over my head, rolling another bolt grazed the backside of my armour but didn't stick, than Myyrah for that. Perhaps I shouldn't use that phrase, after all she is the enemy now. I think I will use that human term; what is it? Oh yes 'God'. Thank God for that.

I pulled up behind some cover slightly further down the road from Russell and his men. Bolts and bullets flew everywhere through the air. I shouted over to Russell.

"Toss me some frags".

Russell obliged and threw me some un-primed grenades. Taking careful note of where the group of Therons were hiding I proceeded to tie the frag to the end of the bolt using its chain and then began charging the final bolt in my Torque bow. I slid from cover and brought the bow to bear and shot off the final round. The bolt flew straight and true and impacted in the chest plate of the central locust hidden behind a large concrete bench. BOOM! The most almighty sound went off as all the Therons were reduced to piles of metal and flesh. Bringing my attention back to the stragglers of grubs I noticed they were retreating. How odd, they were never trained to retreat from a fight so something was wrong. Then I heard it, the very paid sound of thump, thump, thump, going off continuously. I realized what it was at the last second and dived as a Berserker came charging through the ruins of the apartments to my right. She was temporarily dazed by the large block of rubble falling on her head as the building collapsed around her but it didn't do much; she immediately began to advance again, taking her time to search for us through all the commotion of sounds around her. I was glad that they had bad eyesight, otherwise they would be a hundred times more difficult to take down. I yelled over to Russell.

"Russell get your people inside now!"

I then looked up at Griffin.

"Aaron get anything flammable and explosive and bring it outside the station and leave it there for me!"

He did as he was asked and ran down into the station to begin scavenging. Taking advantage of all the time I had available I ran over to the concrete benches and hoarded as many bolts, grenades and bullets that I could carry while still being agile on my feet. The Berserker had finally figured out my location and came charging towards me. While charging a bolt I rolled to the side as she smashed through the concrete bench.

"Eat this bitch!"

I released a shot into her right shoulder and she screamed with pain as it detonated and took a small chunk of flesh from her arm. I began to circle her.

"Stop your whining, I've had worse than that from training injuries".

She locked onto my voice and charged again. I was ready for her. As she came in I ducked beneath her swinging arms and stabbed my large ornamental knife into an opening in the small of her back. Good I was going to need that for my plan to work. She howled with pain and swung her arms to meet me but I was already rolling out of the way.

"Come on, your not so tough are you. How old are you anyway, like 40 cause you look 60!"

She roared and charged again but I dodged and she went careening into a building. The rubble collapsed on her, pinning her for a moment. I seized the opportunity and ran back towards the station where Griffin had stacked a large amount of propane tanks. They were perfect for the task. I began to set them up in a semicircle on the street. Placing the last one I then set a frag to proximity and placed it in the centre of the formation, I stood behind it just as the berserker broke free. She began searching for me again and I yelled to the top of my voice.

"One order for Berserker barbecue coming up".

She ran towards me and I dashed away from the semicircle just as she crossed the planted frag. The berserker halted as she heard the ding tone of the frag as it went off. All the propane tanks shortly followed and before I knew it the Berserker was engulfed in flame and I could see her plated skin begin to crack and crumble. I ran round to the back of her and got a good run up before leaping onto her back and using the knife as a step to haul myself onto her shoulders. The heat was beginning to blister my skin but I had not time to waste. Taking the final frag I twisted the dial on top to a timed detonation. I proceeded to plant it on the weakened plating of her head and jumped off. Another chime went off followed by a loud boom. As I turned the Berserker dropped with a large crater where the brain use to be.

I knelt on the floor and began throwing up bile from the exhaustion. Russell walked over and helped me to my feet before handing me a large canteen of water. Guzzling it in one go I began to talk.

"Thanks".

Russell smiled as more people emerged from the station applauding very loudly.

"Don't thank me, thank you. You just took on something from these peoples nightmares all by yourself for them. If that hasn't earned you their respect and gratitude then, Hell I don't know what will".

As more men came over to help carry me inside I grabbed the shoulder of the old man from before. I spoke with a look of utter exhaustion on my face.

"Do you still think its a good idea to stay here".

He shook his head very powerfully.

"Good, then you should do well to survive".

I collapsed and 5 men began to carry me back inside. As we entered the building I noticed everyone was begging to pack up stuff and I spoke to Aaron about where were we going.

"I suggested we try and find a bigger more secure building to hide in where we can scavenge enough supplies to leave Char".

I nodded, it sounded like a good plan. I then went over to the same window sill I had slept in last night and took a heavy nap.

Char Imulsion Co. Locust temporary HQ

12:07 13-09-2011

'Officer RAAM' (In line for a promotion)

"So your telling me that one man not only managed to escape your patrol but that he was also the man we have spent ages looking for".

The Grub quivered in his boots and began to reply.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir".

Officer Fury leaned in closer and spoke.

"Don't forget that the patrol was then lead into a group of survivors possibly working with the traitor who then destroyed the entire group and a squad of Therons".

RAAM had heard enough and drew his Snub, blasting the grub in between the eyes he then turned towards Fury.

"Give me all the available spare resources for use".

Fury looked surprised.

"Your going to send a small army after possibly two people".

RAAM stared back at him.

"No. I just need a distraction. I'm going to hunt down these bastards myself".

With that he brought his fist down, smashing the table in half and then stalked out of the room, his small cloud of krill following suit.

**Sorry this one is short. I wanted to get the 'Boss fight' out of the way and provide a little background scenario so the next chapter will make a little more sense. I don't know if flicking between three people for a story would be a good idea or just make the story to heavy in info. So just leave a comment in the reviews on whether I should flick between Varrick, Aaron and RAAM or just stick to the good guys. Yet again thanks for reading. Really appreciate it.**


	5. Got That New Car Smell

**Hey loving community. Well I don t know if you saw this coming but since Christmas is right on the horizon (Literally) I would like to let you know that updates will be a little less frequent. Don't get me wrong I'm still going to build up that large bulk of text to satisfy your fanfic craving and they won't be massively delayed; I'll probably have two more up by new years. Not to mention if I have the time there will be a bit of a Christmas themed mini-chapter but don't get your hopes up; like I said, it will only be possible if I have time and that's not a luxury. Keep writing people :).**

**Super Intendant**

**P.S I am now also uploading on my deviant account 'Chaotixspud' give it a go and don't forget my friend 'minxymanx' (but only if your a Naruto fan).**

Denny's Imulsion Station

16:27 16-09-2011

'Varrick'

"Alright people lets get all this crap loaded onto the trucks".

Russell had really taken a new approach to this idea; not only had he managed to find a wealth of goods and vehicles in two days of scavenging but also a brand new refreshed enthusiasm. I like to think its because we have something we didn't have two days ago 'hope'. I turned back round and grabbed the next lot of boxes stuffed with various supplies and ammo, stuffing them onto the flat bed vehicle. It was a small nimble thing but that's what Russell said we needed. 'We don't need huge hulks to carry items through narrow streets. Naw that would be suicide, we need something fast so we can evade the grubs and possibly mow a few down while were at it'. The last bit of that sentence had cheered people up immensely as they had went about hot wiring the various cars and trucks. Hell, most people elected to drive after that. It was nice to see people in such a happy mood. I looked over to the pillars in between the fuel pumps. Several people had taken the liberty of chaining the Berserker's corpse to one of the many pillars and laughed as others threw various items at the inanimate body. Someone had even went out during the night so they could doodle a large monocle and moustache on her. As horrific as it was to deface anyone's dead body, I couldn't help but smirk at the cheesy grin the moustache gave the appearance of on her face.

It was good that we were finally moving out from here but the scavenging for the process had not been easy. We lost three good men when we encountered a pack of wretches hidden in an abandoned supermarket and almost got overran when a scouting party accidentally brought back a trailing group of Boomers. But the best reason for why we were moving out was that the Berserker's corpse was starting to smell; Really Bad! Russell called over to me.

"That should be the last of it. Varrick get over here; I need you and Griffin to gun on top of my flat bed. Grab a lancer each and get you butts up here".

I obliged grabbing a lancer and several clips of ammo from the rack stood next to a pump. Griffin, who had just emerged from the station did likewise. The various skirmishes we have had while scavenging has allowed Aaron's shooting skills to bloom. He was getting very good, very fast. He could already use a lancer like a pro but was struggling with the things that had bigger kicks to them. Which was pretty much everything beside the lancer and a few pistols. Oh well practice makes perfect. He had also since ditched his fancy suit and donned a rather stylish but practical robe combat gear crossover. Some people had laughed and said it made him look like a pimp. After some thorough explanation as to what exactly a pimp was from Laurance I began to see the resemblance. I got some murderous look from him after I asked who his hoe was. I'm not sure but I think I may have used the wrong wording for that one but it got a couple of laughs off the others. Putting aside my train of thought I clambered up onto the truck and sat on a large metal crate filled with various items looted from the local police station, including some CPD variants of the snub pistol. Aaron sat next to me as Russell climbed into the drivers seat and started revving up the engine. I stood and turned to the rest of the people still preparing for departure.

"Okay everyone get in your vehicles and buckle in, its going to be a bumpy ride. Oh and if any of you think about splitting from the group to mow down some grubs; Don't! Not only will you be endangering your life but also the other people in your vehicle as well".

Many people straightened up with the responsibility of other peoples lives on their hands and they all clambered into their various vehicles, checking to make sure everything was operational and ready to roll. With an almighty roar all the vehicles sprang into life and gave off an angry low growl as they waited to depart. I was fascinated by human vehicles, sure we had things kind of similar in the hollows but most of them were cruel adaptations to various animals, but these things were completely independent of any organic help and seemed just as ready to the task as any Reaver or Brumak. Perhaps their technology would guarantee humanity's survival or maybe their ability to work as a smart pack in hostile situations. Locust tend to fight as every grub for himself when things get hairy, that would lose them this 'war'. Was it a war now? Before it was just slaughter and genocide but since the humans have showed their metal... yes this is a fight to win now, not to delay death. Russell gave the final rev in the engine and began to drive at the front of the convoy with other cars, vans and trucks following closely behind. Griffin began to smile very broadly.

"Road trip! Sights to see: National monuments, Local wildlife and Ugly Ass FREAKS!"

Shouts and yells could be heard erupting from all the vehicles as they accelerated down what was left of the streets at at least 60mph. I slotted a clip into my lancer and cocked it, today was going to be a good day; I could feel it.

Char Imulsion Co. Locust Temporary HQ

16:18 16-09-2011

'Officer RAAM' (In line for a promotion)

"I want all supplies moved down the holes now!"

RAAM was losing his patience with the incompetent work force he had been issued. When he asked for all the available back up forces possible he didn't realise they were back up because they were as thick as rocks. They seemed incapable of doing anything even remotely unrelated to combat. But Fury had assured him that even though they were not the most intelligent of all the men they could definitely hold a fight long enough to act as a distraction. While RAAM was comfortable with that, he was a little more peeved by the fact that if they didn't get their asses in gear there would not be enough time to even set up an ambush. He had also stopped executing the grubs around the twentieth soldier when he realised they genuinely could not go any faster. It seemed their lack of intelligence had also impacted their physical capability to lift things efficiently and move them about.

RAAM had spent the last two days scouting and spying around the city looking for the infamous target they needed badly. After finding multiple groups of survivors and taking his frustration out on them with his blade and krill, he eventually found the right place and residence of Mr Griffin in a Imulsion station about 15 miles from here. Unfortunately they seemed to have a large bulk of defence from stranded and various C.O.G soldiers. Also they seemed to have been packing and scavenging to move somewhere more secure. While RAAM had no doubt that he would be able to kill a great deal of them easily, the sheer number of humans and heavy weaponry would inevitably mean his death walking in there. He also had the immense displeasure of discovering that not was the traitorous bastard of a Theron had not only survived but managed to join their ranks quit snugly leaving him as a large target to lower moral. If he got the chance he would take the immense joy of beating that little snot for a second time, only this time too death.

RAAM refocused his attention onto the task at hand. He knew they were leaving so they had to be going somewhere. Taking some good guesses as to where they would go he planned three large ambushes on 3 main roads; hoping that one of them would encounter the convoy. From that point a member of the ambush would alert RAAM to the human presence where he would then set off on his Reaver followed by some elite Therons he had managed to repossess from a stranded hunting squad. They would then land behind the hostile convoy and effectively attack it from two sides. The only flaw in this plan was that the ambush had to hold long enough for him to arrive otherwise it would all be for nothing and queen Myyrah would certainly not be impressed. The final boxes were loaded into the holes and transported to the various ambush sites by the young Corpsers which were shortly followed by the last of the grubs in the building. RAAM took a step towards the hole before saying something.

"Hmpphh. Its about time we left this building to crumble. The human décor is disgustingly vile".

And with that he jumped into the hole and began to move to the new more permanent Locust HQ.


	6. Be Careful of What You Wish For

The convoy hit 65mph as it cruised down the main highway that ran through the city. The bitter wind of the winter climate soothed his healing burns as they drove onwards. The trip had been widely successful so far with no run ins with the Locust it seemed they would make it out of the city with no trouble whatsoever. This unsettled me severely, while it was good that there were no Locust it was also odd because they never just pulled away from an area. Something was definitely about to happen, it was imminent. Aaron had told him to stop fretting so much because there was nothing to fret about. I begged to differ.

"Its just not like them to leave an area of escape completely open to us. I was expecting at least a column of grubs and a Brumak down this highway at some point. But I cant see anything for miles around".

Griffin nodded and grabbed an energy drink from one of the crates, after taking a sip he began to talk again.

"I can understand that. To be honest I was kind of hoping for a fight, those bastards need to pay for what they did".

I agreed with that to an extent but couldn't help but notice the severe look of worry on his face.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh nothing... just my parents. I hope their ok up at Mercy; they're like 80 now and decided a few months back that they wanted to live somewhere nice rather then the dirty city".

"Well hopefully they're safe".

He nodded and tossed me a can of the liquid. I fiddled with the opening mechanism a bit before piercing the top with my thumb claw. Taking a sip I swished it about in my mouth, it tasted good and I swallowed.

"So what do you think of the drink then?"

My body began to convulse violently and I started twitching like mad before coming to a stop hyper as hell and exhausted at the same time. Griffin laughed as did Russell in the drivers seat.

"Hell Varrick I didn't know your people got hyper like little kids. I guess you cant take as much sugar as us".

I gave a sarcastic laugh and flipped him a sign one of the adolescent humans taught me. I think it had something to do with an intercourse of some kind, although I don't remember what. Turning back to Griffin I threw the can over my shoulder and grabbed a bottled water instead. The vehicle started to slow and I leant in the back window truck.

"Why are we slowing down all of a sudden".

Russell pointed forward. Ahead of us two large buildings had half collapsed and had formed hill like structure either side of the highway with large chunks of rubble creating only narrow paths for the vehicles to go through. I began to scowl.

"Looks like a perfect ambush point".

Russell sighed.

"Agreed we need to do something about it".

I propped my lancer against the side of the rails and grabbed a gnasher off the box of weapons. Dismounting from the truck I motioned for Aaron to do likewise. I then called over to Laurance in his truck.

"Laurance were going to check the suspicious buildings; you in?"

He jumped from the drivers seat letting someone else take the wheel and nodded to us, grabbing a retro off the back of his vehicle he walked over. I knocked on the window next to Russell and he wound it down so I could talk to him.

"The buildings stretch on for quite a while so I want you to keep slightly behind us on the road as we progress through them".

He nodded and wound the window up again. I turned towards Laurance and Griffin.

"Here's the plan. You two are going to take the left building and work your way through but keep close to the slope so we can keep visual contact. I'm going to take the the building on the right and do likewise".

With a nod of agreement we set of to the buildings. Clambering up the slope I could smell the vile scent of rotting corpses it made me want to climb back down and away from the horrific smell but I pressed on. Reaching the top I found the source of the horrific scent; a man had been impaled on a pole protruding from the wall and flies were basing all around him and massing on his bloody wound. I averted my eyes and continued, something incredibly vicious had been here or was still here. There was no way to tell so I kept my guard high and continued down the long corridors which were missing the walls on the left side. Looking across I could see Laurance and Griffin stacked up by a door and then they kicked the door down walking inside to check for survivors or hostiles. I decided it would probably be best to do like wise and walked up to the nearest door. Pressing my helmet up against the door I listened for anything moving in there. Hearing the sound of tiny pitter patter from feat I decided it must be a small child in there or something similar. Perhaps one of the humans pet animals. Setting myself up in front of the door I began to raise my boot but before I could finish the kick the door exploded outwards in splinters and I flew backwards down the sloped with a bunch of wretches clinging to my armour. I yelled while falling.

"Ambush!"

I hit the sloped floor about halfway down and began shaking the wretches off with my fists and the butt of my gnasher. Once they were all clear of my body I began to work on them with deadly rounds of my shotgun, blowing them to pieces. At the same time more doors erupted further down the building and drones came spilling out of the small door frames. It was full on ambush; they were expecting us. Finishing off the last of the wretches I climbed back up the slop to a point further down the corridor and began to work my way forwards towards the lines of Locust firing from the cover of surviving pieces of wall. One noticed me and turned but before it could shoot I blew a hole where its face should have been. Turning to the other one hidden behind this chuck of wall I clubbed it round the head with the butt of my gun and then curb stomped its face into mush. Down below the convoy was having a rough time with the enemy fire. Being as the enemy were shooting down on the convoy and most of the vehicles were open roofed, it was only a matter of time before we started gaining casualties. Everyone able to fight picked up a gun and began returning fire on the Locust horde.

Running further down the corridor I sprinted past a group of grubs dropping a frag as I went. As the explosion went off I drop kicked another grub in the side of the head sending him hurtling to the floor but before I could finish him off his two companions turned and opened fire on me, one of them getting his buddy up on his feet. Taking cover behind a support pillar I began to blind fire my gnasher round the corner but I was doubting it was going to do any real damage. A buckshot nicked one of the drones in the knee and he toppled to the floor screaming in agony while the other two began to press forward taking turns to reload. Damn these drones were smart at combat. Instead of rounding the corner to face them head on I rounded the other side going along the outer edge of the pillar out of their line of vision. Coming up behind them I shoved the barrel of my gnasher against the back of the one on the right and blew his chest open with a single pull of the trigger. Cocking the gun again I blasted the other one across the shoulder before he could turn sending his arm flying off the side and him collapsing to the floor dead. Looking back down on the convoy they had almost made it halfway through the maze of rubble but were getting pelted by fire coming from a protruding piece of floor on the upper level with housed several grubs working three mulchers. Picking up a hammerburst from one of the dead drones I then aimed at the furthest operators head and fired making a neat little hole in his head and sending pink brain matter over the wall on the opposite side. I did like wise with the others before any of them noticed that they were being attacked. Reloading the hammerburst and slinging it over my back I then proceeded onward to finish the last of the grubs on this floor and move up to the next. But at that moment I heard a very dreaded shout issued from the other side of the highway in the other building.

"BOOM!"

I dove for cover as a boomshot round hurtled past me and impacted on a support beam sending the beam and everything it supported above collapsing down the slope with me caught in the avalanche of rubble. The small avalanche haulted at the roadside and I emerged with not many injuries but plenty of massive dents in my armour; that would need serious fixing. Fishing the hammerburst from the rubble but unable to find my gnasher or any spare clips I rushed over to the convoy to support and resupply. Just then a shadow crossed over me from the sky and I looked up to see a small group of Reavers touch down at the back of the blockage of rubble and drop off soldiers that looked to be like Theron elites. One of them was particularly large and sported a large blade and a protective cloud of krill forming around him. I recognised it be no person other than RAAM. Jumping into the back of Russell's truck I began scrounging for a certain weapon. Finding it I pulled out officer Fury's torque bow and several bolts for it. If anything could pierce that cloud of krill it would be this. Jumping from the vehicle I began to work my way backwards towards the approaching group of hostiles when I then found a suitably large boulder that I could shoot from and hide at the same time. Clambering up I then hid behind a large chunk sticking out from it and began to charge my first bolt.

Char Stock exchange buildings

16:41 16-09-2011

'Officer RAAM' (In line for a promotion)

The ambush had worked almost flawlessly and he was now working his way up the road towards the convoy of pitiful humans. Although he would have like to use the Reavers, this concrete maze would have just made them a liability telegraphing their presence in the maze when they were trying to sneak through and up on the chain of human vehicles. RAAM had to hand it to the reserve forces, they had performed brilliantly in keeping back the convoy and bogging it down for his arrival. Although maybe a little more casualties could be inflicted on the humans side rather then just the Locust. No matter he had his elites moving up through the rubble and he himself was fine in his krill shield as he approached. Everything was running smoothly when the sound of metal scraping metal blurted out and two Therons blew up violently three metres away from him. The other three Therons immediately separated and began working their own paths. While I, RAAM would tag behind and let take care of this Torque bow marksman. Just then a second bolt erupted and blew a Theron across the tarmac, a gaping wound in his gut which heavily flowed with blood. RAAM was so shocked that his Therons were being out manoeuvred by someone they couldn't find or see. But almost instantly he knew who the man was behind the trigger or rather Locust behind the trigger. RAAM yelled at the surviving Therons.

"Spread out and find him. I want his head on a pike in the queens palace before the days end".

The Therons nodded and with a hiss they dashed off into the maze even deeper keeping a fast pace so they were hard to hit. It seemed that the traitor had already anticipated this as he heard as RAAM heard a grenade chime go off before a wail was heard followed by a fountain of blood flying into the air. Fortunately the other Theron had not fallen for his tricks and worked his way outwards to the slopes of the building so he could come up from behind. With the traitor distracted by the Theron, RAAM thought it would be a good idea to start moving up. As he began to walk through a small narrow path a bolt flew through his cloud of krill impacting on a krill nestling in his armour plates blowing the krill and others around it to pieces also sending RAAM flying onto his backside. At the same time a shadowed figure whizzed over the gap between the two large boulders easily clearing it. RAAM rose and drew his snub firing in the general direction of his assailant to no avail. Throwing his used up snub to the side he drew his blade and began climbing the large boulder, hoping to catch up and set his remaining krill on that bastard. Reaching the top he found nothing to be around for ages other than the convoy firing at the remaining forces of the ambush. This plan was backfiring dramatically and only getting worse by the second. RAAM concluded that the he must of jumped back into the maze but he couldn't see him running down any of the pathways. A call came in on his intercom.

"RAAM this is officer Fury. Myyrah has granted the use of more resources, keep them busy reinforcements are on route".

RAAM let of a malevolent smile and started walking to the other side of the boulder. Jumping down into the walkways he stuck to the wall keeping as much cover between him and that traitorous Theron. Another bolt impacted on his right shoulder plate but fortunately the impact knocked the plate off his shoulder had a moment to dive away before the bolt detonated sending pieces of metal flying everywhere and a few cut across his face. Swearing violently he began picking himself up off the floor again before a boot met his face and he was forced against the ground.

"Well well, if it isn't my good old buddy RAAM. They give you that promotion yet? No? Well no matter you wont be needing it where your going. Its amazing isn't it I've never had deep hatred for anyone ever before except you. Now lets end this".

RAAM felt a boltok barrel shoved against the back of his head but before the final shot could be delivered something flew from up above and landed on the foe. Sending them tumbling to the floor to his right. It was the Theron elite, it now was engaged in hand to hand combat with the traitor. Putting up a good fight it raised its arm to deliver the final blow...

Char Stock Exchange Buildings

16:47 16-09-2011

'Varrick'

I had the barrel pressed against the back of his head and was about to pull the trigger when something landed on my back and sent me flying with it still clinging on. Rising to my feet I realised it was the Theron elite. I had forgotten to get rid of it before confronting RAAM, shit. Well no matter; RAAM had no krill left and he was severely injured he wouldn't be going anywhere while I dealt with this annoyance. I swept low bringing my elbow into the Therons gut and twisting it sending it cascading to the ground, but it immediately countered with a kick to the gut while it was on floor, winding me and pushing me back slightly. It rose to its feet and charged pinning me to the ground it raised its arm to deliver the final blow to my face but I quickly drew my boltok and blasted it right between the eyes. Its lifeless corpse slumped on my body and I pushed it off rising to my feet. Now standing I realised that RAAM had vanished with nothing but his blade left to remind anyone that he was here. I cursed and climbed up the boulders to try and spot him running away but before I could find him two large roars erupted from either end of the highway. Two large Brumaks had managed to approach undetected somehow and were now trapping us in this small network of pathways. Cursing I let RAAM go and rushed back to the convoy leaping over the gaps between the boulders. In no time I made it back to the convoy and mounted up as the front of the chain emerged from the other end of the rocky labyrinth I knelt low and shouted at Russell through the back window.

"Russell floor it now!"

He stomped his boot on the gas pedal and sent us zooming towards the large dinosaur like beast. I rose up from my crouched position with a boomshot and waited for the ugly beast to emit another roar. Feeling the wind from its breath I squeezed the trigger and sent a large round cascading into its giant maw and heard the dull thump as it began to cough up blood and started collapsing. The whole convoy made it through between its legs before it eventually smacked the floor creating a small earthquake and we drove off leaving the other one to roar at the air.

After much discussion at another Imulsion station for refuel we decided to change course and head for a different place. As we pulled up outside the building Griffin exhaled and climbed down from the truck.

"Aahh. Home sweet home".

Walking up to the front door he pulled the once automatics apart and stepped inside. Apart from the few things left around by the grubs it seemed to be completely void of Locust activity. He smiled and looked around.

"Cant believe she's still standing this is going to make a perfect base at which to establish an empire from".

Russell walked up and smiled.

"Baby steps Aaron, baby steps".

With that all three of us smiled and walked back out to start unloading the trucks.

**Hey guys. Two updates! Before Christmas! Whoo! Well I realised it wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas mini chapter so I got these two leading up to it sorted right now and I will begin to write the mini later tonight so it will be ready around the afternoon on Christmas. But remember American fans because I'm British and live in the fine land of Britain I am around about 7 hours ahead to. So actually you lucky critters get it ready for when you wake up. Hooray! This also kind of means I will actually be uploading 3 proper chapters before new years rather than the originally planned 2. I just keep on giving don't it. Anyway have a merry Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever the hell you celebrate and be ready for some more kick ass Defector action. Keep on writing. :)**

**Super Intendant**


	7. A Very Merry Cogmas

**Here it is my Christmas mini chapter. Oh a Locust, at Christmas? What could possibly happen. Merry Christmas guys. Hope you got what you always wanted, maybe even a kiss from that special someone. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant.**

Char Imulsion Co. Stranded Control

18:39 24-11-2011 (Christmas Eve)

'Varrick'

I walked down the corridor in a very pissed mood. I couldn't put my finger on exactly why; there were several possible reasons. One was that we hadn't been attacked in ages by anything bigger than a few raiding parties some Locust, some Human and this meant someone somewhere was planning to jump us while our guard was down. Second everyone was celebrating something I didn't understand so they seemed to exclude me. Finally Russell had tried to make me wear some stupid looking sweater saying that it was part of the tradition. After some large argument in which Russell had kept a very joyful attitude he eventually convinced me to put it on but everywhere I went it drew small giggles and laughs from the other stranded. I stormed into my room and threw the sweater on the floor which was then ripped apart by a wild ticker I had managed to catch and tame. Collapsing on my bed I lay back and rested my arms under my head. Sighing I walked over to my armour which I fitted on a mannequin I managed to find in a supermarket. Taking it down I decided to give it a clean and spent the next half an hour holed up in my room cleaning it.

After a while Griffin came and knocked on my door and I let him in. Usually Griffin would go wherever he felt since he owned the place; since moving here he had taken charge and let all the power go to his head becoming a real jerk at times when under pressure but he was always fine around me. Maybe because it was me who saved his ass and have been the closest thing to a friend he's had in a long time. Not to mention that I always pull him out of hairy situations on scavenging parties including one time about a month ago when I jumped into a pit full of wretches to drag his sorry ass out. Me and him both obtained identical scars that day by sheer luck it strengthened our kind of friendship. I stopped daydreaming when he pulled up a seat and sighed. Looking at him and droop over the chairs frame as he sat on it backwards I couldn't help but ask him.

"What's got you down then?"

He sighed again and began to speak.

"Christmas is not a very good time for me, a lot of family problems happened round this time. You?"

Looking down at my helmet as I cleaned it I began to talk.

"Oh I don't know for sure really. There are a ton of things wrong at the moment but the one bugging me most is that no one will tell me what's going on with all the sugary decorations and giant plastic tree in the lobby".

"Don't have it where you come from?"

Frustration began to encompass my face as I worked into the crevasses of my helmet.

"Hell no it all seems so weird".

Griffin thought about this for a moment.

"What do you want to know?"

Looking up I turned my head towards the window, the view was the same as always, barren wastes.

"Ok well first, who is this baby saviour everyone keeps going on about?"

We spent a long time in there as I asked and Aaron answered. Some of the things in that conversation were really weird, like all the miracles the saviour guy had performed. My final question was.

"So why isn't he here now helping us?"

Griffin stood up and began exiting the room but before closing the door he said one more thing.

"I don't know man. But I ask myself the same question every Christmas; now more than ever".

As the door closed I rose from my bed and began to fit my armour. Checking that my door was securely locked I attached a grappling hook to the window sill and began making my descent down the fifteen levels of floors my room was situated on. Reaching the bottom I drew the only weapon I had taken with me, a gorgon and began to move out towards the city centre. After spending about two hours walking to the city shopping centre and evading the remnants of the occupying Locust forces I finally approached the tin doors which were lowered over the entrances to stop thief's from stealing various items. Giving a haul with my powerful Locust brute strength, I broke the lock to the sheet and sent it flying upwards where it got lodged in some grating which had long ago collapsed. Walking inside I immediately began searching for the various items I would need for my plan. Walking into a department store full of D.I.Y supplies I drew my gorgon as something dashed between the isles. Moving up closer I was relieved when I discovered it was only a large frightened cat. Turning back round I was faced with a single wretch standing at the end of the corridor starring me down. Before I could raise my weapon and fire it let off a monumental scream which hailed the presence of many other wretches, dropping down from holes in the roof and walls. Bringing my gorgon to bear I squeezed the trigger and trimmed the oncoming mob of pissed monkey dogs. Backing off I began to reload and I began to fire again as one leaped at me. It was struck across the chest by my bullets and was sent flying backwards getting in the pathway of some of the other wretches. As my clip neared empty I finished off the last remaining stragglers with sharp precise kicks. Turning away from the bloody deed I had just committed I then began searching for supplies to committee a much more merry one.

Char Imulsion Co. Under stranded control

23:01 24-11-11 (Christmas eve)

'Aaron Griffin'

"What do you mean he just vanished, have you searched the entire building".

The C.O.G lieutenant quacked in his boots as Aaron yelled at him.

"Yes sir we've searched the whole building top to bottom, there was no sign of him".

Griffin sighed and stood up from his desk.

"Very well. Get some rest; we'll look for him tomorrow at first light".

The soldier gave a crisp salute and left. Aaron grabbed a bottle of Vodka from his desk and did likewise, heading down to Varrick's room. Stepping up to the door the first thing he noticed was that the door was locked. He mumbled and drew out the master key, inserting it into the slot and twisting the handle he stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was the fact that the room was ice cold from the window being left open. The second thing was that Varrick's Theron armour was missing from its mannequin.

"Oh my lord Varrick. Where have you buggered off to".

Moving down into the lobby he spotted Russell talking to some of the younger kids about the magic of the season and how Santa would judge people. Asking for Russell to step aside for a minute, he obliged and followed him into a corner.

"Varricks fucked off. I don't know where, he's just vanished".

Russell stroked his newly forming moustache and pondered this for a moment.

"Perhaps he needs some time alone, after all this alien to him".

Just then the door gave a load slam as they were kicked open and a man in glossy read and white armour strode forward.

"Ho ho ho, happy Christmas or something along those lines".

All the kids gave an uproar of cheer as 'Santa' walked over to them brandishing a large sack of mystery items. Laying the sack down he began to talk.

"Now I hope you didn't think Santa had forgotten you this year. No. He just had problems blowing his way through those ugly freaks roaming around on the streets to get here".

All the kids squealed with delight as they were each handed a toy then scurried along to bed by the caretakers. Giving the final kid his toy and ruffling his hair sending him on his way, he then rose and walked over to Russell and Griffin. Griffin was the first to talk.

"You unbelievable son of a bitch. You had me and some good men worried there for a while. Good job".

A smile crossed his face and Russell stepped behind Varrick and patted him on the back.

"Good job son, you've brought these people a heap of Christmas spirit which is exactly what we need right now".

Varrick pulled his helmet off and gave the warmest smile a Locust with large teeth could possibly do.

"Wait, it gets better".

He reached into the bag and pulled out two boxes wrapped in matching paper. Opening his, Aaron was surprised to see a lancer in gold with a posh cane that had been unscrewed to boot. Russell opened his and found a shaving kit and a collection of some of the finest alcohols around. Russell let of the biggest smile.

"Thanks I know exactly where to put this".

And immediately began to drink a large bottle of exuberant Martini. We all laughed and Griffin said one last thing before heading off to bed.

"Merry Christmas you guys".

Me and Russell swung our arms over each others shoulders and replied.

"Merry Christmas Aaron".

And with that as the day ended it began to snow outside in Char for the first time in 13 years.

Char Train Station. Permanent Locust HQ

07:51 25-11-11 (Christmas day)

'Officer RAAM'

"What do you mean it just showed up over night?"

The trailing grub repeated itself.

"It just managed to appear while we were off on break"

Slamming open a door leading to the train lines which kept the Locust forces fed with supplies, his mouth dropped open as he witnessed the sight before him.

"WHO DROPS FIFTY TONS OF COAL ON A TRAIN TRACK!"

There lying over the train tracks was an extremely large hill of coal which had already cause several trains to crash and burn. RAAM climbed the pile and found a small note sitting there at the top. Opening it up he began to read it out loud.

"You've been a very naughty boy this year RAAM and you deserve every last chunk of this coal. Yours Sincerely Santa Claus".

RAAM re-read it in his mind and shouted one more thing.

"Who the hell is SANTA CLAUS!"

**Merry Christmas all. Yay, I cant believe I updated this early. Oh well I couldn't sleep anyway (Must be the child inside me). Moving on I hope you all got what you wanted and if you haven't opened your presents yet, well go and do it now you moron. The next update will arrive shortly after boxing day. Keep on writing people.**

**Super Intendant X X X :)**


	8. Fireworks Are For Sissies

**I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I was supposed to have one cracked out on Thursday but because of my new love for Skyrim and several shindigs and parties I have missed my window so I have to apologise very severely. Moving on I hope everyone had a Christmas as good as mine and a lovely Boxing day to boot and if you don't celebrate Christmas well then I hope you had a good day anyway. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant.**

Char Imulsion Co. Stranded Control

09:30 31-12-2011

'Varrick'

"This is insane!"

I turned to Russell and he nodded his head.

"Varricks right, this is a very stupid idea".

Griffin swiped the glass off the table in his fit of frustration.

"Maybe I'm not explaining this well enough".

I walked over to the table and grabbed the map, folding it into my pocket I replied.

"You've explained it perfectly and I tell you now. This is very bad idea, one that will get us all killed".

"So what's your plan?"

"Simple we don't try this".

"But...".

Russell cut in.

"But nothing. I know we need those supplies but there has to be a better way then assaulting their bloody HQ".

I walked out of the room and left Russell to argue with Aaron while I went to relax. These last few days had been very busy. My previous fear that someone would attack us was justified when a large assault of bandits attacked us on the day humans call boxing day. While we were able to beat them off it did use up a very large amount of our supplies including food and ammunition. We needed those and Griffin thought he had a way of recovering them. I didn't want anything more to do with it, as far as I am concerned that idea was never laid on the table. Moving up to my floor through the recently fixed elevators I moved over to the shower room looking for some R'n'R. After a quick rinse down I moved back the vast dorm that was my room. It was kind of odd that in the middle a semi-apocalypse I had a luxury as big as a lavish room, that may be to do with the fact that there was hardly anyone here. Some had come, few had went but we always had more luxury rubbish than we needed. We were at the point where we were stripping down luxury items for basic items, such as sofas for fire wood and so on.

Stepping into my room I instantly felt a cold chill down my spine, looking around I realised one of my windows were open. Stepping forward to close it I realised something, I didn't open it. I ducked as a clever came swinging over my head and I jammed my elbow into my assailants gut hoping to render him stunned. As I turned a fist collided with my face sending me stumbling back against the window. Before my vision could clear the foe charged me and sent us both flying through the window as we were free falling down the building my training kicked in. Rule number one, don't die. Rule number two, if rule number one is unachievable make sure you take the enemy with you. I continued to grapple with him as I looked around for a safe way of landing. Finding a method I swung us around so he had his back against the ground. I moved us along so we were above several poorly made wooden balconies. We hit the first one and I felt the pain jar through my body like an explosion. White light erupted in my eyeballs as we hit the second and by the time we hit the ground I had lost all feeling in my body. Getting up and stumbling towards the wall for support the large figure wrapped his arm round my neck as I lost my sight to lack of blood to my eyes I looked down to see an arm that was not covered in rock hard skin. If it wasn't a Locust then who was it. As my hearing began to go as well I heard one last thing before I dropped to the ground, a shot. I gasped for air and collapsed, blacking out I felt the cold dirt touch my face and I passed out.

I shot up as I awoke and scanned my surroundings it was dark, so dark I couldn't see anything 3ft ahead of me. I rose and realised that I was in something akin to a warehouse. There were a lot of crates stacked around uselessly. Smashing some open I realised that it was probably a storage facility for natural disasters. Some crates contained food, others contained clothes and meds. Scrounging through the crates of clothes I found something I could wear other than my underwear I managed to find something humans called jeans and a jacket made of fake animal leather. Putting these on and some large boots I walked around the large square of boxes looking for a way out. Finding none that could fit me I reasoned that someone must of thrown me in here which means to escape I had to ascend. Finding a purchase on the first crate I hauled myself up onto a small ledge made by poor stacking and from there I moved along to a second grab point and hauled myself up onto a second ledge. After a very long winded process of climbing and descending boxes I managed to reach the top. Looking around it seemed this warehouse doubled up as a factory of some kind. Leaping down to the assembly lines I checked their contents, they seemed to be large cylinders filled with what looked similar to explosive powder. Odd, perhaps the humans wanted to disguise it as a munitions factory but they didn't seem to be that lethal, too colourful in my opinion but that didn't matter. These things could help me find a way out. If I could gather enough and rig them by a wall I may be able to blow a way out.

Grabbing and armful I moved over to the closest wall and began spilling their powdered contents all over the floor in a large pile. After a while I had a pile the size of a sleeping boomer and probably the destructive capabilities to boot. Making a long trail out of the powder I backed up behind the construction line and grabbed a pair of wires from the wall. Yanking them lose I was greeted with large sparks flying from them whenever contact was made; good I needed this now more than ever. Crouching down by the powder trail I started sparking the wires together. The trail caught light and instantly zoomed off towards the pile. I lowered my head expecting a massive explosion. There was an explosion, but not a massive one, certainly not enough to blow through a wall. The pile erupted in a small boom and plenty of colours shot off everywhere.

"What kind of bombs are these!"

Although it was unsuccessful in blowing a hole in the wall it did manage to do one thing. As the flames flew around they caught onto the crates and now they were ablaze. Great there is going to be a city wide fire if I don't do something about this. I decided to get as much distance from the fire as possible just as the fire alarm fire kicked in. Running down one of the previously explored corridors I noticed one of the doors have now opened. It must have been opened automatically by the fire alarm. Rounding the corner and walking through the door I realised it lead into a vastly open area much like the last room but without the crates. Peering back down the corridor the flames had spread to the conveyor belt full of those cylinders, they weren't fire proof so I had to get my ass in gear before they detonated and sped up the flames. Rushing down the vast chasm of a room I noticed a door partially open and could hear the sound of falling water. The thing humans called 'rain'. Bursting out of the door I found myself in a very badly kept courtyard. The cobblestone had shifted into weird patterns, all the plants had overgrown into a small jungle and the Gothic arches had started to collapse leaving the metal inner supports to show. Similar buildings to the one I had just exited were surrounding this weird courtyard with plenty of entrances leading out of each one. Plenty of old e-holes surrounded this area which meant one of two things. One was that the Locust had been here. The second was that they were still here. I heard all too familiar sound chatter and clicking from a swarm of tickers as they rushed around my feet from a small hole in the side of a warehouse to my left. Odd, tickers hated fire. Why would they run towards it, there is only one things that is more scarred of fire and they know that. Just then a small horde of infant corpsers came smashing through the door of the same warehouse as the tickers. I climbed one of the arches knowing the corpsers would surely attack me without training or supervision. Using the arches to my advantage I began to move towards the roof of the warehouse opposite the one on fire. Landing on the roof I starred at the sky and recognised it was close to dusk. I will need to move fast in order to make it back before nightfall. Looking around I spotted Char Imulsion Co in the background towards the south-east. I would need to find some way of getting a weapon and getting there.

Char Industrial District. Near terminal warehouse storage.

16:12 31-12-2011

'Russell'

"Face it Griffin we're lost out in this storm".

Aaron motioned for two gears to flank around the pile of rubble on the streets to check for ambushes.

"We're not lost! I know where I'm going perfectly well".

I sighed and took a cigar from my chest pouch but before I could light it a particularly large raindrop fell on my match and put out the flames. I sighed and turned to try and reason with Aaron again.

"Look this storm is getting worse and worse by the minute, we already cant see anything that far in front of us. The clouds have practically made it night, god knows how long until razor hail starts to fall".

Griffin nodded, he knew what I meant. The only thing keeping these streets illuminated was the flaming barrels and torch beams streaming from the small squad of C.O.G soldiers they had brought with them. Everyone was getting weary from the search, it had lasted for hours and the storm had kicked up in the last two. I let out a huff as I lit my cigar from one of the various barrels and walked back over.

"Look maybe we should rest for the night and go out tom...".

BOOM!

Aaron instantly perked up and motioned for everyone to follow that sound. I fell in line behind him as we continued to jog down the street.

"That was quite a dull explosion. Frag possibly?"

Aaron nodded.

"Could be someone fighting off someone else. Varrick possibly".

"Do you think all those tickers would of dragged him down there".

Aaron turned back round to face me as we stacked up by a wire gate that lead into a large collection of warehouses.

"They must of, who else would be fighting this far out in Locust territory".

After a gear cut the chain holding the gate together I kicked it open and we all came rushing through. One of the gears pointed towards the roof of one of the warehouses in the distance.

"Look! The roof, it is on fire".

"Then I'm betting that's where the action is".

Without further delay we rushed down the large loading areas looking for a way to access that part of the zone. The rain bashed and exploded against our armour and faces as we dashed for the first building. Running through the first warehouse and out the other side we were greeted with a large open square of tarmac with few containers. On the other side of this large open space was a warehouse, behind that was the warehouse on fire. We began to dash across the open space but 20 steps in a sniper round clipped the back of a gears helmet. He collapsed to the ground shouting obscenities as I dragged him back behind a large assortment of barrels.

"You alright soldier?"

He groaned and replied.

"Yeah just a bit of a headache and I think some blood is starting to pour down my head but nothing serious".

I nodded and rose from the cover to suppress whatever idiot had tried to fire at a group of people who outnumbered them. Peering down the acog scope fitted to my hammerburst I spotted our opponent.

"Bandit looting party!"

One of the gears rose from some cover to my right carrying a prototype field rocket launcher.

"I'll give him something he can have".

With a squeeze of the trigger a rocket whirled out of the barrel and struck a container stacked on top of another one. This sent the sniper flying from his current position and landed face down on the tarmac, a small trail of blood behind him emanating from his face. As quickly as the smoked cleared a large horde of bandits came running out of the hole made in the container and took up positions along the edge of the bay. The final explosion came with a massive thunder clap as the burning warehouse went up in a fiery ball and thousands of fireworks erupted from the small mushroom cloud. They started to land all around us in miniaturised fireballs and suddenly this battle just got a whole lot more hectic.

**Once again I would like to apologise for my tardiness it is most unlike me. But on a more serious note I would like to ask you guys something... well two things actually. First off this is not the only story I am going to make, so I would like to ask you. What universe should I base my next story off of. I have several ideas.**

**Halo (ODST sequel, A series of missions as covenant)**

**Warhammer 40k (Journal of a Tau fire warrior, A pocket of resistance fighting to survive and escape a Tyranid invasion)**

**Elder scrolls (Just my own kind of adventure like Skyrim only not same story or hero and over all of Tamriel)**

**My second question was whether I should wait till I finished this story or start uploading and writing them alternately. So they would swap each week. Please leave responses on this question in the reviews. I will give it until the 16-01-2011 for replies, thank you. Also I noticed that someone said something about lancer chainsaw not existing yet. Sorry for that, I never read the books so therefore never really knew all the background info. If someone could send me a list of important trivia to .uk that would be much appreciated. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**


	9. Just Another Day In Hell

**Alright; several things have come to my attention as of late. First off I would like to apologise for that little annoyance with the e-mail address. While the information was needed at the time I have now looked up almost everything I need to know on Gearspedia so that's taken care of. Second I would like to announce that for The Defector I'm going to begin getting some artwork done for deviant art. Mostly environments from the book so you can see the settings I imagine in my head. So while fanfic gets the early updates, deviant will get the pictures so I suggest getting a bit of both for some kick ass reading. Also although I said the updates will only be frequent for a small while; I lied, sort of. I have recently come to realise that because of the depth to which I have the story planned out at this point in time I will be able to update much quicker although I promise there will be at least one every week. Most likely on Saturdays. So thanks for bearing with the slow parts of the story and keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Char Industrial District. Terminal warehouses

16:35 31-12-2011

'Aaron Griffin'

"This is bullshit!"

Aaron stacked up next to the gear at the corner of the barrels.

"I couldn't agree with you more, but lets focus on not getting killed rather than smashing out swears".

The gear nodded and brought his lancer to bear on the heavily entrenched foe on the opposite side of the loading bay. Unlike most Locust, bandits were much more intelligent and fought with a greater vigour. It was because they were fighting to survive unlike the Locust who were fighting to conquer. As many people have said before, an animal backed up into a corner becomes a lot more ferocious. Nothing about this fight was personal, they weren't fighting because they hated us, they were fighting because they needed what we had. Before this event they were probably all decent, hard working people. Well they weren't any more which made them slightly easier to kill.

I pointed my lancer at the nearest bandit and held the trigger down until he dropped to the floor riddled with bullet holes. Another fireball crashed next to me and I edged back towards the relative safety of the loading crane overlooking the east side of the battlefield. Madness had ensued shortly after the combat had begun with the explosion of a warehouse and raining fireworks began shortly after. I think that the explosion might have been bait set by the bandits, but then wouldn't they run the terrible risk of also attracting the attention of the Locust. My train of thought was cut off by yells from the bandits.

"GRUB!"

From this position I saw a black silhouette jump from the roof of a warehouse, landing behind a bandit he proceeded to his neck and steal his rifle. Rolling from that position he came up behind some barrels essentially creating a three line battle with the bandits in the middle.

"Its clever! Must be a Theron".

The bandits shifted most of their attention to burning through the cover which concealed the Locust foe. I used this chance to get the upper hand.

"All gears with chainsaws and shotguns CHARGE!"

We mounted our cover and ran for the enemy line. With the little attention given to us it would be an easy task.

Char Industrial District. Terminal Warehouses

16:37 31-12-2011

'Varrick'

This was just plain crazy. The fire was spreading slowly to the other buildings around this area and we were all stuck in the middle of a god damn firefight. We need this over with quickly so I used my training to set up a basic crossfire manoeuvre. This would deny the enemy cover and make killing them twice as fast. However what I hadn't expected was for the bandits to be packing this much fire power in such a small group. What is worse is that the storm looks set to become razor hail any moment. I had only experienced it once during my time on the surface but that was all I needed to see its devastating effects. Just then, a sharp pain cut through my right shoulder; at first I was worried I might have been hit but it was something far worse as the second ice shard cut across my chest. I swore and roadie ran across to a container. Kicking it open I sheltered inside and listened as the bandits began to shout and scream in pain. One of the bandits shouted out, obviously in pain.

"Simon get the flames going, NOW!"

A small man ran for a switch with the hail lacerating his back.

"On it boss".

With a flick of the switch, large pipes which had been ripped out of the ground began spewing tons of gas into the atmosphere. At the same time sparks erupted from ripped wires laid in front of them. The air caught alight as massive pillars of fire rose into the sky and melted or evaporated all razor hail. I couldn't help but smile at their intelligence. They must of built it to deal with small swarms of krill. My attention turned back towards the chaos on the ground as squad of gears lead by Aaron mounted the wall, chainsaws ablaze with life they began to cut down the bandits before they could even re-orientate themselves. After the gruesome deed was performed I emerged from cover to meet the barrels of several shotguns pointed at my face.

"Guys its me".

They instantly lowered their guns and I sighed with relief. Sweat began to run down my face as the large plumes of inferno made this bay akin to an oven. More fireballs landed in a large salvo and I instinctively crouched.

"You guys are insane for making bombs like this. Where's their guidance system if their supposed to fly".

Griffin smirked and patted me on the back.

"Their for entertainment, more specifically this day".

I straightened up from my hunched position and began to walk towards the centre of the bay where the heat was less intense.

"And why are they for this day exactly?"

Griffin joined me in the centre and pointed towards the large plumes of rainbow in the sky that were created by a minority of the rockets.

"Because its new years eve. In under eight hours it will be two thousand and twelve, they year the ancients predicted the world would end. Most people don't believe it, I believe they were a little late off the mark, don't you think".

I nodded.

"Perhaps, but then again we are still here, so more must be about to come".

Russell overheard this and laughed in a very hearty tone.

"Yeah right, what do you thinks going to happen next. Imulsion going to start coming alive and killing people".

He smirked again and broke down into fits of laughter on the ground.

"Or... or how about the Locust move to the surface and start bleeding the land dry".

He writhed and shouted with mirth grabbing at his sides as though they were splitting. I didn't really care for his tone to something so serious. I looked up at the sky watching the fireworks dissipate across the sky and fade in a brilliant glow. I looked down towards the others and murmured something and began to walk out of this place just as the razor hail died off. Aaron caught up with me and began to talk.

"I like the new threads. Where did you get 'em?"

"Its a long story".

"Speaking of long stories, who do you think attacked you earlier today".

"Weren't you lot the people who shot at him".

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck guiltily and replied.

"Yeah but we didn't get a good look at him before he grabbed you by the arm and dragged you off into the streets. To be honest we expected him to kill you".

I nodded.

"As did I".

We walked off through the far warehouse and off to base.

**Some things to let you know about. First I would like to say I'm sorry for a relatively short chapter. I just needed to wrap up this new years chap. Even if it was late. Also I appreciate the feedback all of you have been giving me. It really helps boost my confidence with all the writing. That's about it for this weeks chapter. Keep on sending your ideas for my next universe story and I hope to read some of yours if you ever come to write any.**


	10. Queen's honours

**Hello all, first let me say sorry for a late update; there were... unexpected complications. Not to mention Skyrim has consumed my social life, well that and Combat anniversary. I will have another chapter released early to compensate. Keep on writing people.**

**Super Intendant**

Char Train station. Permanent Locust HQ

03:13 01-01-2012

'Officer RAAM' (In line for a promotion)

RAAM stalked down the corridor accompanied by his krill shield as usual. He had refused to leave it behind ever since his rather humiliating defeat at the stock exchange buildings. His grip tightened on the mug as he took another sip of the human drink 'Coffee'. He liked the hot beverage, it kept him sharp and it tasted nice but it had completely screwed up his internal body clock so he had to spend his nights awake. He entered the command room and met up with the night shift working there. One particularly 'green' grub ran up to him.

"Sir, we have reports of a large firefight within Locust held territory only hours ago!"

RAAM stood there with no emotion on his face and took another sip of his drink. Setting the mug on a nearby worktop he turned back to the grub and composed himself.

"Do you have any idea who it was between?"

The grub shifted through the paperwork in his hands began reading it aloud.

"'Gun shots occurring between the times of 16:34 and 16:37 were following a large explosion caused by an inferno in a local factory/warehouse. The guns sounds were reminiscent of human origin and a few distinctive hammerburst shots were fired".

RAAM nodded and turned his back to the grub and began walking out of the room. At the door he stopped and spoke in a gruff voice.

"Have an elite squad of Therons and Grenadiers preped and ready at the Reaver depot for me in one hour".

The grub saluted and ran out a door on the opposite side of the room. RAAM smirked and walked to his personal armoury. It had to be them, who else could it be. Finally he would get his revenge.

Two hours later...

"Sir I think I've uncovered something of importance".

RAAM rose from his crouched position and looked over to the Theron who had addressed him.

"Tell me".

RAAM walked over to the Theron as it picked up a strip of flesh by its claws. RAAM studied it for a moment and the Theron began talking in its hushed tone.

"This skin is definitely Locust because of its rock hard texture. Also judging from the corpses of those bandits and the fact that no Locust were patrolling this area at the time it has to of been the..."

"Traitor!"

RAAM practically hissed this as he stood up and walked over to the Reavers. Mounting his he ordered for the rest to do likewise. As they took off his intercom buzzed and he answered with a deep throated voice.

"What!"

A grubs voice trembled over the intercom.

"Sir, reports of a small scale firefight are being issued at the command centre through the radio".

"What do the reports state?"

"A group of grubs and a berserker are pinned down by heavy fire from a small squad of C.O.G soldiers, they've already lost the berserker to a rocket launcher and it won't be long until they start loosing men".

"Are there any reports of a Theron in bleach bone armour?"

"I'm not getting any but the sounds of gunfire coming through the radio match the reports of the firefight earlier this night".

"Excellent, send the coordinates to my Reavers navigation system and keep track of the fight".

RAAM closed down the channel and a marker pinged on his Reavers navigation screen. Smiling he turned his Reaver slightly to his right and continued on this path until another intercom chime buzzed in his ear. He recognised the chime as the sound for official business and he answered without his usual annoyed tone.

"This is RAAM, what business do you have".

"RAAM its Fury, I'm calling from the hollow through a transmitter tower. The Queen wants you to attend an audience with her".

RAAM sighed and hit the talk button.

"Is it possible that you can ask her to wait one more hour. I've almost got the traitor in my claws".

There was a brief pause and then Fury's voice boomed over the intercom again.

"She says she wants you hear now! No questions".

RAAM cursed and hung up. Opening a line to the strike force tailing behind him he began issuing commands.

"Soldiers! The Queen has ordered me to attend a special audience of utmost importance. You are to find and eliminate this traitorous dog on your own accord, do you understand me?"

A series of barks, growls and hisses filled the channel and RAAM smiled. He pulled his Reaver into a dip and shot down an active e-hole moving down into the hollow. He trusted his men could complete the task. Still, he wished he could have been the one to squeeze the life from that bastards throat.

Char. Father Rd

05:27 01-01-2012

'Russell'

A gear cheered as the grubs mutilated corpse flew across the tarmac after another successful rocket impact. Russell wasn't in the mood for celebrations, he had been worn down to the bone with continual skirmishes between them and patrols as the tried making it back home. So far none had raised the alarm but this group had managed to let off an emergency broadcast before Steven had blown the communicator's brains out with a longshot round. Russell sighed as he looked on the bright side of things. Oh well at least the razor hail had stopped a while ago. Darting between buildings just made the whole process drag on a lot.

Just as he rose to open fire on the Locust squad a large shriek could be heard as several Reavers swooped overhead and bombarded the area. Several units jumped from their backs as they swooped low to the ground and immediately soared up again to continue their bombardment. One gear raised his voice above the curses from fellow soldiers.

"Reinforcements, I count four Therons and six Grenadiers".

Russell cursed and opened up on the closest unit; cutting across its shoulder with a bullet, the Grenadier dove for cover and tossed a frag across the large gap. The frag bounced and pinged its way between rubble finally coming to rest next to the front left wheel of a car. The detonation sent the front end flying through the air and impacting on the side of the large pile of rubble upon which the gears fought.

"This is going from bad to bullshit in no time flat!"

Russell couldn't agree more but he had to keep the morale up, otherwise they would be pushed to the brink very easily. He levelled his hammerburst and blew one of the Grenadiers ribcage open. At that moment Varrick and Aaron took up a position next to him and joint in the fire. Varrick cursed and swore as his leather jacket was chewed up by the incoming enemy fire.

"Where's my god damn armour when I need it".

"Same place you left your shooting skills; you haven't hit a god damn thing all day".

Aaron smirked as he roadie ran across the cover to assist some gears further down the line.

"I'm gunna cap him in the ass later!"

Russell smiled as he blew the sternum of a Theron clean from its body.

"I'll help you with that, but first lets focus on surviving".

The Reavers were playing havoc on their position. These riders couldn't hit for shit but were still suppressing them quite easily. Any attempt at rushing the hostile position would be suicide especially with those Grenadiers equipped with gnashers.

"Sir. I'm down to my last rocket. We're getting fucked out here".

Hold steady gear. Try and knock down one of those Reavers. Varrick stood up and pushed the gear aside taking the rocket launcher for his own.

"This is how you use a rocket launcher!"

He squeezed down the trigger and sent a rocket flying right into the face of a swooping Reaver, blowing its face to mush and sending it crashing a few metres behind the pile of rubble. Varrick dropped the rocket launcher and ran down to the Reaver, motioning for Russell to do likewise they met at the gunners seat.

"Some of the armaments should still be operational after the crash".

Varrick ripped the troika from its mount and hefted it in his hands.

"Help me bring this thing up the hill, there's no way I can carry this thing on my own".

As they began ascending the hill, multiple Reavers made another run across the sky firing rockets all around them. One such rocket detonated near the top of the rubble pile and sent several large chunks arcing towards Russell and Varrick. Varrick dropped the troika and leaped to the side as a boulder flew through where his head had been. Russell did likewise to dodge a similar injury. Approaching the top of the hill Varrick set the troika over the barrier and began revving up the gun. After a seconds wait the gun flared to life and began cutting down the cover and through the foes sat behind. Bringing the troika up he began firing at the Reavers in the sky and one by one they fell. Russell let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, glad that's over with".

Hollow Palace

05:45 01-01-2012

'Officer RAAM'

"So your telling me that after a few months you still haven't killed this pesky traitor".

RAAM knelled before her and spoke in the humblest tone he could.

"Your majesty, surely you could understand that I have had other larger priorities. I have persona...".

She interjected.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Your duty so far has been flawless, but this one little 'problem' has tarnished your service record considerably. But that is beside the point; I have called you down here for a very specific reason. Your are aware that my top general KANE has recently passed away, I'm sure you have".

RAAM rose his head slightly.

"Yes ma'am it is quite tragic, he was a good leader of the troops. A personal friend of mine".

The queen stepped from her throne, her long dress caressing each step as she walked down.

"Hmmm yes well I need someone to fill his position of general and I would like to take you up on that offer. You will have access to all the resources you require and will lead my armies to victory".

RAAM stood and bowed the upper half of his body.

"I would be honoured your majesty".

She placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a ram rod position.

"Excellent. Your first assignment is to deal with this traitor. He serves as a massive dent in the moral of my warriors".

"I will deal with it straight away your highness".

He walked out the room and into the blackness of the corridors.


	11. The D stands for Douglas

**Hello all. I would like to start by saying that from suggestions of my friends I have decided along with you few but helpful opinions to do an ODST sequel and wait till I have finished this one. I tell you it was a very close thing; a lot of my friends wanted me to do the covy missions. But the decisions is final and you can expect that to come along not to far from now. That also means that The Defector is about half-way done. But don't worry it has a big finish that I've cant wait to do and dread at the same time. Oh well the show must go on, keep on writing people. :D**

Char Imulsion Co.

09:16 01-01-2012

'Varrick'

I collapsed on the lobby floor as we entered the building and began to pant heavily as my stamina slowly recovered. The hike back had been very arduous not to mention all the constant fire-fights along the way. I stood up after what seemed like an eternity of lying on the floor.

"I'm gunna head to my room. Ughhhh".

Russell and Aaron shuffled along beside me and both grumbled as they headed towards the elevators. The metal box ascended as the three of us stepped inside and we just lounged about waiting for our various stops. My floor came up and I stepped out, leaving Russell and Aaron to continue upwards. I walked down the long corridor too exhausted to notice my surroundings; as I approached my room I felt around for my key in my jeans and remembered that I had left it on the side in my room so it should already be unlocked. I tried the handle and pushed the door but the hinges were incredibly stiff so I shoulder barged my way into the room. The first thing I noticed was the incredibly cold blast of wind to knock me in the face. The second thing I noticed was that my room was almost completely iced over, most likely from the freezing cold night and rain/razor hail. This was just great, I wanted to relax but the worst possible conditions for a locust had spread itself across all my walls and bed. I walked across to my wardrobe and opened it up. Unlike everyone else who kept their clothes in their wardrobe I chose not to have many clothes, so I kept my own personal collection in there. I rifled through the various weapons looking for a certain device. Finding it I pulled the scorcher from its rack and flicked the switch to low pressure. Firing up the device I began to walk around the room giving off tiny bursts of flames. The room was soon back up to a reasonable temperature and with that I hear the familiar clicks and ticks of my little pet as it ran out from under the bed and as close to the source of heat as possible. I smirked and hung the scorcher back on the rack. Looking around I noticed the window was open from the rather absurd encounter I had with my assassin. I still didn't know what had happened to me, so I resolved to find out. Changing into something a bit more comfortable from the bullet riddled wreck of a jacket I left the room and headed for the elevator; I had made sure to lock the window this time.

I stepped out into the landing of Aaron's floor and approached his room. Knocking on the door he opened up with a look akin to death itself.

"Jesus Aaron, you look like shit!"

"You don't look to good yourself".

I nodded and asked if I could come in. He said yes and we entered his room/office. The place was a tip with thousands of old work papers scattered across the room and some in a fireplace burning. It didn't matter, he wouldn't be needing them any more.

"So what's up?"

"What happened yesterday with the guy who attacked me?"

He dropped into his office chair and put one of his hands gently against his chin and his elbow on the desk.

"I don't know, some guy; definitely human, attacked you. A gear managed to put a bullet through his shoulder but he dragged you off with his other arm. However before he could get very far a horde of tickers swarmed him and he had to ditch you and left them to carry you off. By then we had only managed to make it across the pavement".

"So who do you think he was?"

Aaron mauled this over in his mind.

"I don't know but its probably just another bandit looking to steal some supplies".

I nodded to this and got up to go.

"You want some breakfast?"

Aaron rose from his seat and cracked his back in an arch.

"Yeah I could go for some grub right about now".

They sat in the mess hall and began to eat some rather dry toast. The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful which made a nice change to the endless combat we had to endure day in, day out. Just as I finished my mug of tea the sirens went off over the intercom. At this point it didn't really surprise me that we were under attack. Laurance's voice boomed over the intercom once the siren died down.

"Alert, potential hostiles have stopped sixty meters outside the base. I want strike teams one through three at both bunkers and the main door pronto".

I looked at Aaron and he looked back at me. We dashed to the elevators and to our various rooms to get kitted up. I sprung into my armour and fastened it as quickly as possible. Opening the wardrobe a second time I grabbed my Lancer, Gorgon, Inks and my newly built kickshot. The kickshot was a brilliant new gun our local mechanic Tom had managed to build. It basically looked like a large shotgun with a fore-grip blade attached and a nice two times optical zoom. It fired three different rounds. The first was a gnasher shell modified not to detonate into fragments until it had met sizeable resistance from an object, usually the enemy, these were nicknamed buck rounds. The second was just a basic incendiary round which erupted in flame upon contact. The final was the material on torque bow bolts stripped down into multiple bullets which were fired one at a time. They didn't blow the enemy to pieces but it did blow a hole sizeable enough to kill someone. I grabbed it and a bandoleer of buck rounds. I arrived at the main lobby feeding the rounds into a five bullet clip, Aaron was already there.

"So fill me in on the situation".

"Well basically one of the spotters on the roof saw a group of silhouettes move in and out of the rubble out in the distance through his binoculars, he was incapable of distinguishing whether they were Human or Locust".

I hummed to this.

"Doesn't matter, they're still probably going to try and shoot us".

The muffled shout of a gear through a helmet as a sniper bullet flew overhead but it wasn't one of ours. I looked at Aaron as he looked at Russell who looked back at me. We all drew our guns as a person emerged from the shadows. He slung his rifle over his back and raised his hands.

"Whoa, whoa. I'm on your side here".

Russell was the first to take the initiative and stepped forward.

"What's your name soldier?"

The gear began to speak but it was too muffled. He held up his hand and whacked the side of his helmet clearing dust from the air filter and gauzed faceplate.

"Lance Corporal Douglas Carmine. Designation number 03755".

Carmine was something special and I could tell that at first glance. His armour was covered all over him, most gears had chosen manoeuvrability over protection but Carmine had chose otherwise, I liked that it reminded me of me. He walked with a kind of foolhardiness to his step. But above all, even after all this time he had managed to keep his armour immaculate. Russell spoke up again.

"You look green soldier".

Carmine pulled a very crisp salute, he could tell a veteran if he saw one.

"Green as grass si... Jesus Christ!"

Carmine dove for cover and pointed at my face with his Snub pistol.

"Doesn't anyone else notice the monster standing right there".

Russell gave a low hearty chuckle and grabbed me round the shoulder pulling me in closer and rubbed the imaginary hair on my helmet which was kind of hard to do since I towered over him.

"Relax, he doesn't bite, he's on our side, which also means he's on yours".

I gave a curt nod and laughed with sarcasm. Russell continued on.

"Carmines huh? I've heard of you guys, your family is almost as prestigious as the Fenix family. You the next generation?"

Carmine nodded.

"Uh huh. Me and my little brothers. But they're no where near old enough to join yet".

I noticed something else.

"Where's the rest of your squad?"

Carmine motioned back and a rabble of civilians, none of them carrying firearms, emerged.

"I don't have one any more sir. I lost them in combat on the day the monsters showed up. I've been rounding up and protecting these civies ever since".

Russell let a very impressed look cross his face.

"Wow Carmine that's amazing!"

I took Carmine round the shoulders with my arms. I wasn't letting Russell have this guy, he was going to be my buddy. Carmine shrunk in my arms and I stifled a laugh.

"It's 'kay Carmine. We can be buddies here".

Carmine seemed to shrink further.

"Um sure; I guess".

Aaron couldn't help but collapse in laughter as I walked Carmine and the civilians inside. Things just got a lot more humorous.


	12. A perfectly laid trap

**Hey all, I've been missing you. No but seriously I'm sorry for another late update but I've been working hard on GCSEs and trying to catch up on the story, anyway moving on. Some of you may have noticed that I took down the previous chapter for a while. Well that was because of some massive grammar mistakes which I tried to fix but the site had problems with me re-uploading. Sorry about that. But without further ado I give you the next chapter. Keep on writing people. :)**

**SuperIntendant**

Char Imulsion Co.

17:23 06-01-2012

'Varrick'

It had been quite a harsh week so far with all the combat, work and scavenging going on and it was really starting to wear on me. Things have gotten much easier ever since Douglas showed up, the civies he was escorting were very good with craftsmanship and other manufacturing roles. They had made it their mission to repay us by keeping all our weapons to 100% working condition. I kept my own weapons out of their grubby reaches but we all appreciated it nonetheless. Then there was Douglas himself, the man was a god send. Not only was he extremely good in combat he also was very good at keeping everyone in high spirits. I had him linked with our squad for scavenging so it was now me, Russell, Aaron, Laurence and Douglas. Five members was a good number and we were all extremely good at killing making us the ideal strike force. I finished polishing off my Lancer Mk1 and went on to polishing the Mk2. Today had been very slow and I had used the chance to give all my kit a good tune-up. Not that it ever got that worn. I finished up the last of the polishing and headed downstairs for some food. Approaching the counter I saw Laurance in a lovely little chef hat.

"Mmmm. Smells good Laurance, another one of your human recipes?"

Laurance reached down behind the counter and grabbed a plate, bringing the plate to the side he then proceeded to scoop a large square delicacy onto my plate.

"You bet, I hope you like it, it's lasagne".

I sat down at one of the tables and feasted on the delicious human food. Human food tasted so much better than locust chow but not all of it was edible for me. I had to often put up with a slight feeling of nausea after every meal. Vegetables seemed to be a necessity for humans so I would have to put up with it. Finishing the food I left my plate at the table and reported to the main lobby for the daily scavenge. The others were already there waiting for me.

"My, my Varrick your late. That's not like you at all".

"Sorry I was busy getting some food before we headed out".

Russell grunted to this and hefted his kickshot.

"You brought your weapons of choice".

I pulled the Boltok from its holster and flipped a Gnasher from my back. I had decided to travel light recently. The Locust had stopped using so much ground forces and were starting to perform patrols with Brumaks. It was much easier and safer just to run away from and avoid them. The occasional krill had also been spotted. After describing them to the group we had decided it was best to scavenge only during the day and to start making preparations for the building to be almost airtight. We walked through the ripped red scarlet carpet that had once lavished the floor but was now a wreck. Heading out the door I took a deep breath of air and let the sweet gasses fill my lungs. The taste of burning from the hammer strikes still lingered in the air but it was growing fainter by the day. Besides I didn't mind too much, it gave the air a scent similar to the temple in which I grew up. I slung the gnasher over my back and began to jog at a steady pace with the boltok hanging loosely from my left hand. Somehow I had the creepy feeling we were being watched but that wasn't an immediate problem. We set out to do our job and our job we would do.

Streets outside Char Imulsion Co.

17:42 06-01-2012

'General RAAM' (Recently Promoted)

"There you are you pathetic weakling".

RAAM sneered as the last words came out of his mouth and he lowered the binoculars from his eyes, watching the traitor run down the street with those pathetic humans in tow. Today would be a hunt and it would bring a most beautiful bounty, oh yes indeed it would. RAAM activated his intercom and called the first of many traps and ambushes.

"Are the forces ready?"

A drone buzzed in on the other end with a very rushed tone over his voice.

"Yes general, the trap has been set for the humans".

RAAM buzzed off one channel and called another.

"FURY! Is the elite strike team ready?"

RAAM waited a few moments and buzzed the intercom again.

"FURY! Don't you dare ignore me!"

After another few moments Fury buzzed back in a very annoyed tone.

"Yes RAAM the strike force has just finished preparing".

"Good, next time don't take so long to answer or I will have your head paraded around nexus on a rusty pole".

"I wouldn't dream of it your excellency".

And with that Fury cut off before RAAM could dismiss him. RAAM seethed, he would deal with his subordinate later but the task at hand must be completed first. He pulled back from his hiding position atop a ruined skyscraper and mounted his Reaver. Taking off he couldn't help but laugh maniacally as the thought of his foes impending doom loomed only inches above his head.

Char Shopping plaza.

18:13 06-01-2012

'Varrick'

Russell kicked the double doors from their rusty hinges and we all stepped inside the large tiled shopping centre. The air was stuffy and the shelves were caked with dust but that didn't matter, the kind of food we were looking for would be airtight and hopefully meaty. My nose picked up a familiar tang in the air and I began snorting around. Russell picked up on this.

"Something around?"

I gave another sniff then pulled my helmet over my head.

"That stench, it reeks of Wretches but its old and stale".

"Alright, everyone stick close. I'm not taking any chances with this. You see something that looks even remotely like a wretch and you shoot it. Got that?"

Everyone nodded and we formed up into a tight group with me at the point and Douglas at back. Moving slowly down the isles we found tonnes of old rotting meats and vegetables but nothing even remotely preserved. Then I noticed a small figure slumped against the freezer at the other end of the corridor. Keeping my Gnasher pressed firmly against my shoulder with the D.I.Y butt I walked slowly ahead of the group. Coming to the intersection where the isles went off in other directions I carefully checked all other passages before searching the man for a pulse and items of use. Finding nothing I noticed that his arm was propped in a position so it was pointing upwards. Looking where his arm was pointing it lead to a ventilation tunnel missing a grating. Perking up my ears I could hear very light and rapid breathing from a group of beings. I already knew what they were. I whispered over to Aaron.

"Aaron pass me an Ink".

He tossed over an un-primed Ink grenade and I began edging my way over to the open gap. I clicked the primer on the Ink and the infant Nemacyst began to throb and spew forth it toxic fumes. I gave the grenade a light under-arm toss into the open hatch and heard the distinct 'whoosh' of the grenade detonating. Wretches began pouring from the hatch coughing and gagging everywhere and I immediately opened up on them with my Gnasher. The others joined me as more hatches blew open and more wretches poured out gagging from the fumes as they travelled around the ventilation system.

"Everyone cover a direction!"

Everyone took the separate directions and began opening up on the confused and dazed Wretches as they slowly began to rally against us. One wretch made a jump for my face plate but I batted it away with my shotgun and capped it in the face before returning to work on the rest of the advancing horde. As the last of the wretches dropped before the onslaught of led I gave a small sharp breath before reloading my gun for the fifth time. I was already starting to run short on shells and the scavenge had only just began. Douglas panted from the physical excursion of beating in Wretch skulls.

"Well that was... interesting".

We moved further down the next set of isles and into the the central part of the indoor plaza. Looking at all the other shops around us on all the different floors I was beginning to think this may take forever.

"Well lets get to work".


	13. A Little Slice of Hell

**Well here's the next chapter (on time for once), I know I said I would try and update more then once a week but the GCSE stuff is getting ridiculous. I will still try to release asap but for now be contempt in the fact that I will never pull a Scott Ramsoomair on you (Don't kill me Scott :( ). Nah I just kid but anyway here you go, enjoy.**

Char Shopping Plaza.

18:43 06-01-12

'Varrick'

"Tell me again, why did we decide to go out this late when we're supposed to be 'avoiding' krill?"

"Because Laurance, we need to take back quite a large cargo and night fall is the most effective cover we have. Besides the krill haven't arrived en mass yet".

Russell pinched his nose and looked back speaking to Aaron and Laurance like a dad would to his kids in the car.

"Jesus Christ! You two are starting to remind me of one Damon Baird I spent a lot of boot camp with".

I gave up with the moronic babble of human nature and decided to do what Locust loved do, be alone. I split off from the group and entered a tiny market tucked into the corner of the plaza. Taking a basket from the pile I began scrounging around for anything meaty in the slightest. Noticing something called dog food (not knowing what it was) decided to scrape two or five cans into the basket and looked around for more of those 'sausage' things. Time seemed to go pretty quickly and before I knew it the others had ransacked every shop on this floor and were about to move onto the next when Douglas shouted something.

"INCOMING!"

The others dove for cover from a flaming barrel of fuel as it cascaded down the escalator. I ran out into the plaza to help them but was suppressed by Hammerburst fire from the railing above. Damn it was a Locust ambush, they knew we were going here but how? As soon as I thought this a large swarm of wretches burst through the double-doors twenty metres behind me. I cursed and went to work on them with my Boltok before they could closed the gap that lied between them and their prey. Speed loading the device I smiled as I knew the perfectly loaded chambers would provide much more accuracy and power per shot. I finished the last four wretches with two bullets to spare and decided to use it in the best way I could. Rolling from cover I brought the Boltok up to my waist and placed my left palm on the priming hammer. In a fashion similar to a western cowboy I pulled a two skill shots and dropped the two locust bombarding us from the upper balconies. I rolled back behind cover and took my time loading in the next six shells. I was just in time as two maulers rounded the pillars outside and began trudging into the shop through the trashed double-doors.

"Douglas, I need backup. NOW!"

He was at my side in an instant with a kickshot in hand. We opened up a barrage of fire on the two approaching hulks. The first one hunkered down behind it's shield but the second one wasn't so lucky. It was disoriented by a glancing shot to its head and fell under few well placed shots to the neck line. The second one roared and began a slow but powerful charge in our direction, flail spinning in the air. The shield was at it's side, it obviously had no regard for it's own life. It closed the distance fast and both me and Douglas rolled in separate directions as the flail cam crashing down upon our previous location. The explosion sent pieces of ceramic tiles flying everywhere and one was fortunate enough to lodge itself into the maulers gut. The mauler dropped it's two items to pull the ceramic stake from it stomach. We used this to our advantage and opened up on the mauler, Douglas firing with buck-rounds and me moving in closer to finish it with my Gnasher. By this time the others had almost finished in clearing the enemy from their entrenched position on the upper floor. What remained was a troika they had set up at the top of the escalators and a few grubs at a barricade surrounding it. Douglas looked around.

"Any ideas?"

I looked at the maulers deceased corpses and the mental image of a light bulb appeared above my head.

"Just one, but its good".

Douglas crossed his arms and snorted through his helmets air-filter.

"I'm listening".

The Locust were thoroughly surprised when we came charging up the stairs with boom shields strapped to our wrists. Me and Douglas had the shields and lead the charge as we approached the top mounted over the barricades kicking the closest grubs in their faces. Russell sprinted forward and tagged the troika with a frag bolo. The gunner went up in flames and shrapnel as we dove for various spots of cover. The remaining Locust we all limping around or crawling across the ground trying to help each other up. None of them decided to raise their arms up at us as we watched them. Aaron went in to finish them off but I stopped him with my arm. I could see the suffering in their eyes, they didn't want this war but they were made to fight in it. Douglas stepped in front of me.

"Why aren't we killing them?"

Russell responded before I could.

"Its a Geirdanam scenario".

Aaron looked shocked.

"You mean?"

"Yeah, they're just kids. Probably the Locust equivalent of sixteen of eighteen".

Douglas looked away and put his hand over his visor.

"Jesus Christ".

I walked over to one of my kin and rolled him onto his back and closed his eyes as he took his final breath. I sighed.

"This isn't right. We have to end this war, quickly".

I rubbed the back of my head and looked at the other Locust as they all slowly followed the path of the first one. I got up and walked over to a nearby vending machine. I stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.

"Aaargh".

I unleashed a torrent of mindless, savage punches on the poor device. As I finished the machine collapsed in on itself and released its payload of drinks, broken or not. I picked up a can of something called 'Cream Soda' and punctured a hole in the top with my claw and began gluging heavily at the drink. Finishing my third can I went back to the others and they didn't say anything.

"Okay lets move on".

They silently nodded and we set off to gather more supplies. The rest of the time in the plaza was silent as we gathered the various foods and items we would need for the following few days. Finishing up in the plaza we headed out the double-doors at the front each lugging a large amount of supplies in our hands. I had carried the most because I was the strongest and Douglas was our point man. It was a very grey dusk, just after the sun had set and it was going to get darker rapidly. I sighed and continued to lug my share of the cargo when a glass bottle water exploded and the wisp of a bullet trail lingered in the air.

"Sniper! North-west direction".

We all dumped our supplies in front of us and ran for various positions to conceal ourselves. Laurance was the first to level his rifle to shoot but he took a glancing shot to the shoulder and immediately dropped back down in pain. I had no weapons capable of a decent long range fight and called for Laurance to chuck me his Hammerburst seeing as he wouldn't be using it. He passed me the device and I began opening up on the sniper off in the distance. He was a speck in the distance but I was a crack aim. I fired off a single shot and dropped him but his death was greeted by two more snipers filling alongside him. Then four, then six, then ten.

"Guys keep your head down its a whole sniper squad. These guys really want us dead".

Russell was the first to take the initiative and sprinted for the shopping plaza; we did likewise. Entering back into the building we made a dash for the doors at the other far end. Laurance was clearly in excruciating pain but we had to continue onwards so I swept him over my shoulder and began carrying him out. As we approached the door Laurance pulled my Boltok from its holster and began firing at something behind us but I didn't bother looking back, I just sprinted out the back doors and turned left following the others down this small street road. When we were sure we had lost the enemy I put Laurance down by a blackened car and he began coughing violently.

"You hit anywhere other than your shoulder?"

He hacked and coughed some more.

"No, no just a glance on the collar bone".

Douglas tapped my shoulder carefully and whispered.

"Hey, do you hear that?"

I perked up my ears and heard the dull choir of shrieks off in the distance and large black clouds begin to roam forward from the horizon to the south.

"Oh shit. It's Krill".

Laurance was instantly on his feet and raring to go. We did the same and took off in a northern direction, hoping to escape the krill storm that was slowly approaching.

Two hours of non-stop running brought Laurance to a grinding halt and we had no choice but to stay with him. I decided the best thing to do was get inside a house and reinforce it with the furniture inside. We smashed in the window of a house to our right and jumped inside. Using tools from the shed we began nailing and screwing all sorts of wooden items over every possible opening for the Krill and when were all done with that we moved all the heavy furniture in front of all the doors. I slumped on the floor and placed my back against the wall. Closing my eyes I began to take a very light sleep.


	14. Don't Have Nightmares

**Hi all, well things have settled to a standard routine right around now. I make a chapter, I upload it on Saturday (or Sunday if late) and you read it. I like that, I like efficiency; as promised here's my next Chapter in glorious black and white. Keep on writing. :)**

**Super Intendant.**

Memorial Street, Char, Char Park Estate

22:14 06-01-12

'Varrick'

Things had been quite since the initial flurry of krill passed, it was a nice quiet the sort you would just sit around and think about things in. But the voices of Grubs had soon changed that melodious sound into an anxious wait for a suicidal firefight. None of them bothered to check the boarded up house and we never bothered spying on them; we just sat there listening to them go past. Laurance's bleeding had died down slightly but he had lost enough to make him feel woozy and that would make this ordeal a lot more difficult. Time was agonizingly slow and each second felt like an endless eternity but eventually the voices of Grubs died down too. At this moment I decided to get up and do something, anything. Putting the Hammerburst slowly into my hands I used the barrel to poke up the blinds showing through the tiny hole we left. I peered out the window and saw nothing but the pitch black street around us and a few fires lit around the place by the Grubs. I edged along to the door and motioned for the others to follow me with my hand. Creeping over the pavement I arrived at the first fire, leaning over I examined the fuel and discovered it was rubbish from a random bin. If this stuff was still burning it must have been more recent than I thought. Looking down the road I saw a trail of fires leading around the corner.

"Our best bet of staying alive is following the Grubs and their trail of fire".

Douglas didn't like the sound of this.

"Uh doesn't that sound a little... um... you know, dangerous".

"Well its this or wonder through the dark with that above our heads".

I pointed to the sky and everyone else craned their heads to see a sky filled with thousands of streams filled with krill.

Russell let one word slip his lips in a half whisper.

"Fuck".

"Just stick to the path and we should be fine".

We set off slowly onwards towards where the Grubs were going, as we did this we made sure to resupply the major fires along the way in case we needed to retreat, fast. Everyone was edgy bar Laurance who seemed to be in a world of his own. This wasn't good because if a Sniper who was fool hardy enough to actually snipe during a krill storm then Laurance would be an easy target. The next corner came up and I motioned for everyone to halt. Usually I would just press myself against the wall and peer around the corner but since the dim light of the fires wouldn't reach that far I had to slowly walk further up to the corner until I could see all the way around. The next street was clear and we moved through the maze of wrecked cars until we saw something odd. Something was hunched over in front of a hastily erected Locust insignia. At a second glance I could tell it was a Locust and also I noticed several others in similar positions. One of them let out a feral scream and was greeted by several krill flying down and perching on his outstretched arm. I already knew what it was from the scream.

"Guys keep back its a Kantus".

"A what?"

"Basically Locust monks trained in advanced combat. Tend to carry Gorgons and Ink 'nades. Some have the ability to control a small amount of krill. They're probably responsible for guiding the krill to vital locations around the city".

I peered back over the car bonnet and saw the Kantus rise from its hunched position and screeched for the others to do likewise. They all arose and I identified them to be younger Kantus initiates, just like I use to be but slightly further up the process. In fact I would swear that they were going through the initiation into maturity. My beliefs were confirmed as the leader lent over a smaller Kantus and let the krill nestling on his palm bite the forehead of the younger one. I used now as a good opportunity to catch the bastards by surprise. I slowly rose over the bonnet as the two Kantuses bowed to each other.

"Fire on my mark".

"'Kay, what's the mar...".

Bang. The bullet from my Hammerburst coursed through the air and nailed the leader right in the neo cortex. He dropped and his demise was instantly responded to by a large group of angry Kantuses. I dropped behind cover as the rest of my squad opened up from different positions. The Kantuses rolled for various pieces of cover and the matured initiate crouched and relinquished his deceased leader of his weaponry then joined the rest of his fellow disciples behind a low lying wall. Another Kantus took charge of the small group of Krill and sent them at Douglas. He quickly trimmed them down with his Lancer but was greeted with a spray of bullets from the Gorgon pistol. One of the Kantuses took a grenade from the shooters belt and proceeded to lob it at my position. I rolled from my cover and ran at the group of Kantuses as the shooter reloaded. I mounted the cover kicking one in the face and then pulled all the breath from my lungs and teaching from my brain and let off a massive, primal, Kantus scream. This severely stunned all the Kantuses and I opened up with my Gnasher, carving a bloody swath of destruction through the Kantuses bodies. I pumped the final shell into the chamber and coup de graced the last survivor. Liberating the Gorgon and remaining Ink grenades I strapped them all to my belt and walked away from the gory mess. I set off down the road again with the others following close behind. We eventually reached the end of a cul de sac and all that stood in front of us was a large building. I kicked in the front door and paced inside slowly. The corridor inside was dimly lit and stretched on for what seemed like forever, it was like something out of a nightmare, especially with the possibility that Krill were hiding in the shadows. I took one step forward and instantly rolled back as a large group of Krill shot through the dark and towards me. Once back in the light they flew back to their hiding place and left me to my own.

"That, was too close".

We needed an idea and I had nothing to go on for one. Luckily Douglas did.

"Why don't we do this".

He took and Incendiary from his belt and lit it up. The bright glow shone through the bleak darkness and all the krill began dropping from their hiding positions, burning. Russell whistled.

"Well that was easier than expected".

We set off down the corridor, making sure to stick close to Douglas as he held the torch aloft. We could hear Krill writhing in agony as we slowly passed through the large building until eventually we came out the other side but what we saw was even more scary than the building itself. Down a large, grand staircase was a enormous gathering of the horde. Grubs, Reavers, Brumaks, Therons and even a few Beserkers. We all backed up into the building and I peeked through a small crack in the door.

"My God, there must be thousands".

I looked around the scene before me until I noticed that the horde had quietened down and were all facing a certain direction. Looking the direction they were facing I saw RAAM himself stood atop the stand of an old statue. Then he looked over the edge and helped a particularly thin person up onto the stand. They turned and I instantly knew who it was; her, she spoke up to the crowd.

"My children, we have achieved step one to reclaiming what is rightfully ours. Next we must push on to the other cities of the ground walking garbage. From there we will slowly take Seira for ourselves. Nothing can stop us, not even that delusional fool Prescott and his precious C.O.G. We are the dominant fighting force, we are the dominant will, we are the dominant species!"

To this all the Locust let of feral howls and shouts, even RAAM seemed to laugh but not for long as she continued her speech.

"But before we press on, we must take care of a large thorn in our side and the control of this city. Traitorous dog of a Theron has eluded even the capable grasp of RAAM himself and he continues to be a pest as we strive onwards to glory. RAAM and his sneaky tactics have failed dealing with this menace so we will eliminate him with our best; YOU, the horde itself. You will march to their gates and batter them until they crumble under the weight of their own despair".

The crowd roared.

"You will place your boot on their hopes and crush them in one swift blow!"

They cheered again.

"You will show them the meaning of no fear, no weakness, NO MERCY!"

They let off one last massive roar.

"Now go my children! Crush the weak, the foolish, the traitor".

The horde took off at a sprint, running in the direction of Char Imulsion Co. This wasn't good at all; it was approaching midnight and it would only take the horde about an hour to reach the fort unless they kept at this pace in which case it would most likely be twenty minutes. Douglas was the first to say something.

"We need to get back there before the Locust do and warn the others".

I sighed.

"How do you suppose we do that then?"

Russell thought of something.

"Metro?"

I was confused.

"A what?"

Metro entrance 3A. Rawley Street.

00:09 07-01-12 (45 minutes until Locust assault)

'Varrick'

"This is a bad idea".

"Would you rather all our friends die".

"We'll die if we go down there".

We were all stood at the entrance of the Metro looking down into the looming pitch black of the station. Russell and Douglas had explained the idea of a train to me and I was thrilled at the concept until I found out that it ran underground.

"Do you have any idea how much krill will be down there. We need lots of light, more than this shit can supply".

We had ransacked a local electronics store and stuck torches to all our weapons and helmets with super glue and duct tape. The batteries were fresh and so would last a while. Douglas who had decided not to take and chances had strapped neon tubes around his armour and was now lit up like the tree from the humans Christmas festival. I had followed his example except not to the same extremity.

"What makes you think that these trains will even be available, let alone functional?"

"Well think about it. The Locust would have no need to destroy them, in fact they would probably use them to their advantage just like they do with the surface trains. Although they've probably all cleared out for the Krill storm".

Aaron started moving down the steps switching his torches on at the same time.

"Well lets get this over with".

We all nodded at his example and plunged into the murky depths of our likely resting place. The first thing that we noticed was that all the thick wires running across the ceiling were ripped, or more precisely, 'chewed' through. Douglas let off a low whistle.

"Wow, Krill must love the taste of copper".

Russell gave the wires a thorough examination.

"These are the main power wires from the proper electricity grid, the station should have its own backup generator or generators. We should find them to get the trains running again".

We all agreed, the most likely place to begin our search would be the station control room, they would be nearby or at least have a map of where to find the backup generators. We set off further down the tunnel towards the platform without encountering any Krill so far. As we approached the edge of the platform itself we peered either way but could not see a thing. I shone my torch down both ends but all it succeeded in doing was illuminating a few extra metres and burning some Krill sleeping on the roof of the cylindrical tunnels. We headed off down to the right being as the left just lead to a ramp which dropped onto the tracks. As we moved on and rounded a corner we could see some stairs leading to some sort of room which peered over the station with a long glass window. The bigger problem was the three Locust lounging about in front of it. There were two flame grenadiers and a flame boomer, all of which were covered in shiny, reflective, chrome armour and carried torches and lamps. They noticed my torch beam but not the others as they were still around the corner slightly. One stood up and shouted at me.

"Halt! Why are you down here".

They obviously had no idea who I was, I motioned for the others to stay around the corner and I began walking towards the flamers. I needed something to say; I began making stuff up. Applying my old hiss to my voice I spoke.

"RAAM has ordered for the station to be powered up so we can move troops around the city more efficiently".

The others stood up, they were obviously not impressed with my answer. The boomer did something that they would do very rarely. Say a full sentence.

"And what proof do you have. I don't care if he was recently promoted to general".

I began to worry a little but kept my cool and didn't let them hear my concerned tone. I masked it with an angry tone.

"I have no proof to show you but I'll be damned if I'm going to be shot because some idiots couldn't be bothered to flick a switch and you should be shouldn't think otherwise".

They all stood ramrod straight. I had hit home; everyone knew RAAM shot anyone showing the slightest sign of incompetence. The final Grenadier spoke.

"Heh. Don't listen to the other two. We'll show you where to activate the generators but we ain't going down there ourselves".

I nodded and they showed me up the stairs and into the control room. From there they moved me down a long staircase until it I was facing a metal door with a press release bar for a handle.

"So any particular reason that you won't go down there".

The first Grenadier gave me his Scorcher and took my Hammerburst.

"Well besides the Krill, all the Wretches are down there after we locked them up".

"Why the hell did you lock them up in the generator room".

The second grenadier answered that.

"They drank some Imulsion from the a fuel barrel and began acting crazy attacking us and each other. We beat them back into the generator room and locked the door, after a while of hammering they gave up and just sat in there. We haven't opened it since, they could be dead for all we know".

The Boomer pushed down on the bar and opened the door. The first grenadier said one more thing.

"Oh, one last thing. They tend to explode upon death".

I stepped inside.

"Wait... what?"

SLAM! The door was closed and locked from the other side and one of the grenadiers called through.

"Knock on he door when you have the power up and we'll let you through but make sure no Wretches or Krill are following".

I gave a deep huff and pumped up the Scorcher then ignited the end of the ignition rod.

"Well lets get this over with".

I began walking down the pitch black corridors with nothing but the torches to guide me.

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	15. Railway To The Danger Zone

**Hey guys, I'm going for the double this week (excuse the terrible Gears pun). In the event that you truly have no idea what that mean then let me enlighten you. The first of three serious events are coming up and I want to get it up quick without skipping anything so I'm kicking into overdrive this week. Expect at least two chapters and maybe a mythical third if I get the time. I have also noticed that reviews have slowed to a snail pace and a majority of them are from the lovely Karl himself (don't ask who he is, I've never met him). So I would really appreciate some reviews, because in all honesty they help me improve and if I don't improve then the story won't kick as much proverbial ass. As a little incentive I will shove a cameo of the person who gives the best review ready for the first major event. Just write the review then at the bottom put your name for the Character, a few general things about him/her such as heavy/light armour, a few facial features and of course your favourite weapon. I'm not going to lie, they will 'PROBABLY' die but do something cool and extreme first. When I say probably, I mean that I might actually grow attached to the character and add them as a secondary protagonist. Oh yeah, one more thing; please specify if its a boy or girl because some names can be unisex and the detail can always be open to interpretation. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Metro Station 3A. Rawley Street

00:19 07-01-12 (35 minutes until Locust assault)

'Varrick'

Claustrophobia is a bitch, its even worse when you know there's something to actually be afraid of. I trudged down the long maintenance tunnel with my Scorcher poised to incinerate anything that jumped at me. I had also decided it was best to turn the lights off so I wouldn't attract the attention of the Wretches, after all they could see no better than I and they were apparently glowing from the Imulsion they had drank. Whether they were still glowing I had no idea but I had to press on to the generators. It was at this point that I noticed a peculiar set of yellow lights just floating randomly down the corridor. It began moving and I realised that it wasn't a pair of lights. I yelled.

"Shit!"

I pointed the nozzle at the advancing wretch and pulled on the trigger. With an almighty 'fwoosh' the stream of fire launched out of the weapon and set the wretch alight. In hindsight the Scorcher was probably a bad idea, if I was trying to sneak my way through this then I was screwed when the Wretch began screaming in agony as it fell to the floor and detonated in a plume of Imulsion. I shielded my face from the hazardous liquid and then proceeded to pump more pressure into the fuel tank. As I gave the last groaning push at the pump more wretches began spilling out of the darkness and galloped towards me in their weird run/jump movement style. I unleashed another salvo of volatile liquid and the first row of wretches dropped, burning and screaming. The rest stayed behind the makeshift barrier of fire as their comrades burned and exploded. Apparently they were aware of their new volatile nature and were in no hurry to set it off. I had the upper hand, the advantage of fear over my enemies. I shot more flames in their general direction catching a few alight and sending the other into a panicked frenzy as they sprinted away from the source of fear. Some of the more hardy ones whom were desperate for food, rallied and gave another charge. They were quickly burned and deterred as the front few went up in flames. They had, had enough and began retreating with the rest of their pack. I continued to chase them through the maze hoping they would lead to the generators and on top of that, if I let them escape then they could circle back round and ambush me. My hunch was right as they jumped through a ventilation hatch that lead to the next room. This room was guarded by a large metal door with several valves acting as the release. Propping the Scorcher against the door frame I proceeded to turn the stiff valves until they gave a pneumatic hiss as the door slowly swung open. I hastily picked up the Scorcher more than willing to believe that the Wretches would fight to the last, backed up into a corner.

"Empty?"

The Wretches had vanished, this wasn't a good thing but it wasn't necessarily bad either. They could of decided to sneak up on me or they had decided it was best to just leave me be. Considering they were mindless beasts I would say the first option was very likely. I set to the task of setting up the generators before they decided to make their return. It didn't look too hard, they were all lined up next to each other with a large leaver on a pedestal sitting in front of each one. I pulled the first switch and the lights began to glow dimly but not much else happened. I hit the second switch and the lights began growing in intensity, some machines began to whir with a flurry of boot up functions. The third and final switch was pulled but nothing happened, I tried again, still no result. Hmmm; maybe I had to give this thing a jump start. The maintenance staff had obviously encountered the same problem as I found a pair of jumper cables, a sheet with instruction on how to use the jumper cables and a piece of crumpled paper with a list of parts needed to repair the generator itself. I noticed that there were no power packs so I would have to jump it off one of the other generators. Applying the cables to the second generator I then attached the clips to the third generator and hey presto the generator sputtered and kicked into life. The lights hit max intensity, primary machines hit full power and secondary machines began booting up. The most promising sound was when I head the trains begin to move through the thick tile and concrete walls.

I jogged back to the sealed metal door and gave a loud thump. The lock mechanism clicked and the door swung open to reveal Douglas standing there smiling with the first Grenadier hanging dead from a head lock.

"Varrick how nice to see you; hope you didn't have to much trouble getting the power up".

I laughed and tossed him his helmet from the counter, he caught it with his free hand and placed it on his head adjusting it so it fit snugly.

"Nothing I couldn't handle".

Aaron came up the stairs.

"C'mon ladies, we 'aint got all day. The trains gunna pull out soon".

Douglas dropped the deceased Locust and jogged off towards Aaron, who was standing at the door frame leading to the stairs. I began a power walk to catch up and we all arrived on the main platform simultaneously. Russell leaned out the train door and yelled with a very gruff faked southern accent.

"All aboard who's comin aboard".

We got onto the train and it began to take off from the platform at a slow but accelerating speed.

"Hey, wait a minute, where the hell is Laurance!"

Russell took a seat.

"I can tell you that one, he's at the control cabin. Says he can stop the train at the right station for us".

"Can he operate a train?"

Russell scratched at the long stubble on his chin.

"He said his pappy use to pilot trains or somin. Showed him the proverbial ropes".

We passed by another dual tracked station and watched as some more Flamers starred at us and then jumped into the train pulling out of their station. Douglas was the first to say something.

"Uh oh, that can't be good".

Russell gave a flick of his wrist.

"Nah, we're already at a faster speed, they'll never catch up".

A train began pulling up next to us on the opposite track. I growled.

"You were saying".

We pressed ourselves against the walls just below the windows as the Flamers began shooting us with Snubs.

"I'm going to warn Laurance!"

Russell nodded and I began moving slowly down the carriage making sure to keep my head low as I went round the seats. One Locust noticed and began taking pot shots at me, I ducked low then sprang up and blasted him in the gut with my Boltok. He dropped back into cover and the trains began to space out a bug as the tracks moved to an area where pillars separated us from them. I used this as a chance to dash up the train to Laurance. Barging through the cabin door I saw Laurance trying to smash in one of the windows so he could see what was going on properly.

"When do we have to hit the brakes?"

The other train pulled back in closer and a Grenadier began shooting at us from their respective pilot cabin.

"Oh I'd say round about... now".

"Well do what you need to do to stop this thing".

He ran to a leaver sitting by the pilots seat and attempted to pull it.

"I don't have the strength to pull the override brakes!"

I tossed him my Boltok.

"Keep that Locust fucker off me".

I ran towards the leaver and began pulling it along it path. It was a tough job, even for me. The train jarred and sent us all to the ground. It had begun to slow down when I rose to by feet. The other train had begun overtaking us but the Grenadier had other ideas, he yanked his leaver and their train began slowing down likewise. We dashed back down the cabins to link up with the others. They had killed the Flame Boomer and were working on the other Flame Grenadier. I snatched a Bolo Frag from Russell's belt and decided to do something stupid. Moving down the carriage slightly I found the perfect window, set the Frag to a timed detonation and punched through the glass. The Frag, which was in my hand, tagged a section of outer wall only a few inches away from the carriage connection point. I dove back as the thing detonated and the cabin containing the first Grenadier began falling behind us. That just leaves the third one. We moved back up the carriage to find the final one trying to find out what had happened to the others, only to find that the whole carriage containing them was gone. Russell passed me another Frag and I punched through both the trains windows and dropped the frag on the floor, there was a dull ding then blood splattered all the windows in that cabin. We eventually pulled up just a little overshot of the station and dismounted the train. Walking down the tunnel and then hoisting each other onto the platform we began walking to the stairs leading upwards. Something odd was depositing on the ground. It was a greyish sort of snow and I picked up a handful and tasted it.

"Ash?"

Ash had been falling along with the snow and that could only mean one thing... We all dashed up the stairs and into the bright glow of the night moon.


	16. Taste My Fury

**Hey guys, well as promised here's the second chapter of the week and may I remind you that there is still a chance to have your minor character introduced into the next chapter for reviewing (for details look at the last chapter). Well that's pretty much it, not much on the author notes this time. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Metro Station Entrance 6B. Tangent Street

00:39 07-01-12

'Varrick'

One word escaped through Russell's lips.

"Well fuck".

The city had been transformed into a snowy countryside as the snow fell and settled on the piles of rubble, creating large hills. Off in the distance we could see a large fire begin to spread across the streets close to the stronghold. Everything was eerily quite except from the dull thud of the Locust army marching through the streets in the distance. The towering silhouette of Char Imulsion Co itself, dominated the horizon as the moon began to slowly sink above it. Me began to make our way up the first artificial hill and used it as a vantage point to get a better look at the marching army. I put my binoculars away and turned to the others.

"Well any ideas?"

Laurance had planted his back against the top of a protruding wall and was trying to nurse his wound while the rest of us figured something out.

"Yeah I got an idea, how about we draw their attention away from the base a little while. Y'know... give the others a little more time to prepare".

Russell responded to this.

"Yeah, I'm up for that".

"Fine but we'll need some ranged weapons".

Aaron pointed past me and down the hill.

"Uh, will that do Varrick".

Looking to where he was pointing we could see a fair way off, a group of snipers setting up in a half collapsed building looking down a hill which would prevent the Stranded from retreating this way.

"Alright, everyone stick close and low. We don't want this fuckers firing and giving away our position just yet".

We all roadie ran to the next nearest mound and took cover behind it . I drew my knife from its sheath and the others did likewise. We slowly crept up on the group being extra careful not to let the snow crunch under our boots too loudly. The iced wind bit at my lips and turned them rock hard as they began to freeze; the snow continued to land in my eyes obscuring my vision but I kept a sharp mind as I prepared for the task at hand. Coming up to the first Sniper at the back of the group I wrapped my left hand around his mouth and plunged the knife into his neck with my right. He squirmed for what seemed an eternity before finally falling limp in my hands. I placed him on the ground gently and looked up to see that the others had done likewise with the rest of the squad. We took their sniper rifles and aligned ourselves along the ruined wall on the second to top floor of this building. I ordered for everyone to line up a good shot and wait for me to make the first shot. But before I could pull the trigger I heard something like metal rattling against metal at a very high speed. As I turned around I was met with a boot to the chest which sent my flying off the building and down to the snowy ground below. Luckily I had landed in a particularly deep settling of snow and the metre of the frozen liquid cushioned my fall. Getting up quickly I began to run up the side of the hill as sniper rifles went off and I could hear the sound of swearing, feral screaming and bullets pinging off metal. I rounded the corner only to dive back again as a large spiked ball came rolling past me. It unfurled to show the familiar face of Fury staring at me. He screamed at me.

"YOU! I should never have trusted you... I gave you my best weapon and now I want it back, where is it!"

He curled up in a ball again and gave another charge towards me. I barely dodged as his spikes sparked against my leg plating. I landed and slid across the icy ground, he unfurled again and opened up with twin Gorgons. I ran behind the remains of a pillar but the weakened structure began peeling away at the relentless onslaught. The others had done like wise with their own pieces of cover. Russell rose and fired a shot off, the bullet pinged harmlessly from Fury's armour and he began to press forward but Douglas drove him back with a few rounds from his Kickshot. Russell called across the gap to me.

"Varrick..." He rose and fired another shot before diving back down. "You know this guy?"

I leaned round and gave a few blind shots with my Boltok before taking cover again.

"Yeah, he's and old 'buddy' of mine from the Kantus temples. We never really got on very well".

Fury let off another roar of anger.

"You were always a disgrace to the Locust but now your a traitor as well".

He curled up into a ball and charged directly at the pillar hiding me. I dove to the side as he smashed right through it. The roof above collapsed slightly, sending debris and rubble upon Fury and disorienting him. I used this as a chance to get I close with my shotgun. He was much taller than me but I used that to my advantage. I gave a blast point blank to his chest and he roared in agony as some pellets pierced his ribcage. He swung his large arms across to my side but I rolled underneath them to give another blast to his back. He was loosing concentration now and begun becoming more feral. He let off a Kantus scream which paralysed the others but sent me back slightly. He used this as chance to swing his arms again and took me off my feet and flying into a nearby wall which cracked under the pressure which was being exerted upon it. As I regained composure I rolled as he came spinning into my previous location and went straight through the wall into the next room. By this time the others had also recovered and took up their firing positions, just a quickly Fury came sprinting through the hole he had made, Gorgons blazing. I cursed and went in low for a stab with my knife but he anticipated this raising his knee and jamming it into my chest. I heard a crack as one or two of my ribs broke under the impact. I fell to the floor on my and knees writhing in pain. Trying to rise I was greeted by a pimp slap from the side of one of Fury's Gorgons. Blood trickled from my mouth and he grabbed my throat with his large hand and hefted me upwards which was no easy task. He brought me up to eye level and sneered.

"Any last words before I rend you limb from limb".

I looked up and smiled.

"Just one... THINK FAST!"

I brought my knife up and plunged it into his left eye socket. He staggered back in shock, dropping me. I called over the others.

"Help me".

With a great shove from all of us, Fury went cascading over the edge and into the already compacted snow with a loud 'Thud'. We weren't taking any chances as we all began riddling him with as much high calibre fire power that we could find. Once assured that he wouldn't get back up I slumped against the low wall and began panting heavily, despite the immense pain that came with every breath. Douglas slide over to me.

"Alright I have higher than normal medical training. Lets see what I can do for you".

He removed my chest plate and his helmet. Pressing his head against the left side of my chest I roared in pain.

"Oh god the ribs have cracked and pierced your heart. Your going to die, in fact you should already be dead".

I pulled his head across to the right side of my chest and he listened. He looked up in awe.

"You have your heart on the right side!"

"No... I have... two".

"Can you still fight with one or do you need both to operate normally?"

"I... should... be... good... for now".

I tried getting up but gave another pain filled roar and collapsed again. Russell stepped in and placed his boot on my left leg.

"Alright, don't try getting up again. Your clearly not in the condition to do it".

I shifted in my spot and grunted in agony.

"But... how... will... I... help?"

Aaron stepped into the conversation.

"I have an idea".

**. . . . . . . . . . . . .**

I sat on the roof with my back against the air ventilation duct and a Longshot in my hands. The had carried to the roof where I could provide sniper support for the battle while they moved in and flanked the Locust. I watched them as they reached the bottom of the hill and turned right going behind a large group of buildings. I could see the battle from here; it wasn't pretty. The stranded and other gears had taken up positions in and around the main lobby trading fire with a superior force while the better shots had taken up sniping roles from the windows but were more occupied with grapplers climbing the walls. I shut out all thought from my mind and entered my sniper state where I was at one hundred percent concentration. Looking down my scope I began to perform the dirty deed that lay in front of me.

**Well that's it for this chapter but remember to leave reviews and character details for a chance to get a cameo. Also I would recommend getting the Mass Effect 3 demo/beta. It is amazing and the multi-player is actually the most enjoyable thing I've ever done in ME.**


	17. Trench Run

**Hey all, really looking forward to writing this chapter, it marks the beginning of the end where we enter the final arc which will be EPIC! I'm a little disappointed to say the least that no one actually left a review with a character idea. So in effect that means there won't be a special scene, oh well life goes on. In another completely off key topic; I'm finding it quite hard to get a good party in games going recently, especially in the ME3 demo where everyone seems to quite after one match and no one co-operates. So I would like to ask you guys if your willing to game with me (friend request or just invite). My tag is 'BLOOD ANGELS 02' (I was a massive war-hammer fan boy at the time of naming that almost five years ago). Would love to get a decent game of gold difficulty survival going on ME3. That's it for today and as usual... Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Char. Tangent Street

00:50 07-01-2012

'Varrick'

The cold metal rim of the scope pressed up against my eye and sent shivers down my spine as its frosty temperature mixed with the already freezing air assaulting my body. I took slow deep breaths and began scanning for targets. First order of business was to take down the bigger things which couldn't be attacked by the stranded. I levelled my Longshot on a best rider commanding atop a Brumak. I was about to squeeze the trigger when the wind picked up a little and I adjusted my aim to the right slightly so the bullet would hit its designation. I pulled the trigger and moved the scope away from my eyes before I could see the gruesome fountain of blood spew from the riders neck. I unbolted the chamber and loaded in a fresh shell. Closing the hatch carefully making sure not to jam it, I re-aimed my sniper and blew the spine of a boomer between the sixth and seventh vertebrae. It didn't take long before I was working my shoots to a well oiled precision similar to that of a machine. Before long the entire back support of the Locust was either headless, dead or scrambling for cover from the mysterious sniper. The stranded in the main lobby used this as a chance to push out from the building a little and secure a basic perimeter. I unbolted my Longshot for the fortieth time and reached down to my bandoleer for another shell. Realising that I had run dry on ammo I had to sit back and watch the rest of the battle until my wounds healed to a level in which I could fight, which wouldn't be that long seeing as Locust healed almost twenty times faster than humans. In fact if you were to give us a small cut you could watch it heal right before your eyes. I settled into a more comfortable spot and watched through my scope as Aaron and the others came through an alley to flank the Locust.

Char Imulsion Co. Streets

00:57 07-01-2012

'Douglas Carmine'

Douglas tightened his grip around the handle of his Kickshot and tensed his arms into a steady firing position as the the group rounded the next corner and came to a small alley. They were expecting an easy sneak into the sidelines of the Locust assault force but things didn't go to plan as when they rounded the corner they immediately dove into various pieces of cover as a Troika opened up on them. Aaron was not in a particularly good mood about this.

"Oh boy, I sure didn't expect this to happen".

Russell snapped at Aaron.

"Can it Griffin!"

The Troika's gunner let out a gruff laugh as he took a long drag on his cigar. His goggles fogged up as the smoke trailed across his vision. He didn't care, he just needed to keep his finger pressed tightly on the trigger.

Douglas rose above the cover and took several pot shots before ducking back down.

"Soooooo... any ideas?"

Russell mimicked Douglas and drew a frag from his belt. Taking the chain from its hook on the frag he continued to jam the now hollowed tube of the chain release onto the barrel of his Hammerburst.

"Lets hope this works".

He lifted the retro fitted grenade launcher above his head and squeezed the trigger. The bullet struck the grenade and sent it flying while the impact set off the primers time release. The gunner had a second to realise before he was whacked in the face and had one moment of agony before the inevitable beep and the explosion, sending parts of his body skittering across the floor and the Troika through the air as a junk projectile. The squad used this as an opportunity to charge the remaining grubs. It took little effort as the Locust were stomped into the curb. They quickly reloaded and continued down the stone work alley.

It wasn't long before the faint thump of gunfire became a cacophony of rockets, bullets and explosions. Douglas ducked down and approached the low stone wall surrounding the pavement of the street. The others did likewise and they began to look around for an effective way of halting the assault force when they heard a large 'crack' and saw a Drone operating a mortar drop, headless.

"That must be Varrick. He's picking off the heavy support units".

Russell scratched his forming beard as he observed the scene in front of him.

"Hey look, there's a trench running along the back of the lines. No doubt its full of Locust so if two of us go through the trench and two work over the top then we can clear the support roles of their positions much more easily. Then perhaps use their heavier weapons against the remaining Brumaks. They made their way across the wall with their back plating scraping against the hard granite. Arriving at the entrance Douglas and Laurance went in while Russell and Aaron mounted up top. It was a split op from here.

Douglas planted his feet on the snowy dirt and began trudging forward with a Sawn-off in hand. Laurance fell in behind him with a Snub. Russell leaned over the trench edge and called down.

"Alright, me and Aaron are going off to deal with the Mortars. Don't worry, Varrick should be able to see a majority of the trenches from his position".

Douglas gave a casual salute.

"Roger and be careful, hate to have to do this with shit shot here. His arm aint gunna help much".

Laurance gave a sarcastic laugh and they set off down the trenches. The first thing they came across was a group of gunners operating Mulchers. They let loose with their guns and quickly reduced the group to a heap of corpses. A bullet impacted on the mud walls to the right of Douglas, he turned to face a squad of Drones advancing on him. He took cover behind an ammo crate and blind threw a smoke. The stunned Drones rolled around in a vain attempt to dodge hostile fire, they were quickly cut down and were left as Douglas moved on. They entered the first of many gunner pits which had been dug out into a circular shape. The Locust here we too distracted with operating the heavy armaments to notice the pair waltzing in on them. That rapidly changed as Laurance fired a round into the base of ones neck. The others dropped their current duties and grabbed any weapon close to them. One grabbed the Locust equivalent of a Kurki blade and jumped Douglas who was still reloading his Sawn-off. Douglas was on his own as Laurance was too busy keeping the other Drones from doing likewise with their various mish mash of shotguns and blades. The Drone raised his Kurki and struck down but was stopped as Douglas brought up his shotgun to block. The blade connected with the gun and swept down the barrel loading chamber. The blade sparked and set off the rounds shooting them into the left wall. Douglas quickly went on the offensive and booted the grub in the chest flinging it off him. He rose but just as quickly gave a shallow duck as the Kurki swept across where his neck had been. He jabbed his elbow into the grubs gut and rolled backwards as the blade gave a downward swipe. The grub advanced on him swinging the sword but each time Douglas dodged and took a further step back. This went on until the Drone followed through with a diagonal slice to far and brought it up behind himself leaving his gut exposed. Douglas raised his knee and jammed the pointed edge into the Drones gut. Drawing it out his head went spinning as the foe brought his arm back and mashed the hilt against Douglas's helmet. The Drone brought his hand down to examine the wound that had been inflicted upon him. A deep gash but nothing life threatening. He looked up in time to see the back of Douglas's fist connect with his jaw. The Drone spun to the ground and was given a short burst to the head with a Gorgon.

"And stay down bitch!"

Douglas quickly headed back to the firefight and joined Laurance behind cover. It didn't take long to pick off the stragglers. Once they had taken the gunner pit, Douglas took a One Shot and began to pick off the heavier beasts attacking the fort. When he ran dry on ammo he dropped the weapon and they continued onto the next weapon pit. This went on for a twenty minutes with the occasional input from the topside pair. They reached the final firing pit but something was odd. It was empty.

"I don't like this".

Douglas agreed to this as they slowly walked into the ring, scanning the edges of the wall in case the enemy had climbed. Content that they were not in hostile sights, Douglas moved to the middle to grab a One shot when the ground erupted all around him and Therons flew into the air. They landed all around him with loud 'thuds'. Douglas flipped his Gorgon from its holster and did a three sixty, pressing down on the trigger. The incoming fire sent the Therons scattering and they recovered with a barrage from their own shotguns. Douglas had already moved from his position but was now stuck between the volley of fire from the shotguns and a mud wall as he crouched behind a trio of coolant barrels.

"Well crap!"

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Aaron cocked the Gnasher as the final grub in the mortar pit dropped. He grunted as one tried to rise. He gave it a quick boot to the face and it collapsed, not moving. He smiled and turned to Russell who was shaking his head with disapproval.

"You really shouldn't take this much fun from mercilessly slaughtering".

Aaron slung the Gnasher and walked past Russell, purposefully bashing his shoulder against Russell's he headed off the the side of the battlefield. Russell called out.

"Hey... where are you going".

Aaron looked back.

"I'm heading to the fort, my first priority is the Stranded, not the Cog".

Russell shook his head and turned away, mumbling to himself.

"He's changed so much, he's becoming more and more like an ass. In fact, the only person who he treats with respect is Varrick".

Russell perked up his ears to the sound of moving dirt coming from the final firing point. He turned to see Therons free falling to the ground in the firing pit, all carrying heavy duty shotguns. He dashed towards the pit in order to save the other two. It took him ten seconds to cross the gap but as he reached the edge he could already see that Laurance was taking cover at the entrance while Douglas was hiding at the far end of the pit. He gave a mighty push with his legs and leaped from the edge and flew to the first set of Therons. He planted his boots on the first Therons back and sent it to the floor. Before it could do anything, he reached down and snapped its neck with a wet crunch. He picked up the Therons modified super shotgun and blew the other two Therons in the area to tiny pieces. He rolled across the open gap and as he came out of the roll he blasted another Theron in the face, sending pieces of brain matter everywhere. He did a nimble turn and shot another Theron in the chest as it charged him, bayonet attached to its rifle. He caught the stumbling corpse and used it as a shield as another Theron opened up with its own shotgun. Realising that the pellets wouldn't penetrate the corpse and that the humans shotgun was too heavy to lift one handed it stopped shooting and began a tense stalemate. It was cut short as a Snub round penetrated its skull and it fell to the ground. Russell turned to see Laurance, a smoking Snub in his weak arm and a dead Theron head-locked in the other. Douglas joined them in the middle and they smiled as they began to scavenge the Therons weird shotguns.

**Man that was a rubbish way to end the Chapter but I couldn't think of anything else. Oh well life goes on. On another note, while writing this chapter I was told that a friend of my Mum knows someone who does what I think is professional publishing... and she wants to read 'my' work! I'm excited to say the least, although this story definitely won't be published for copyright issues and the fact that even I don't think its good enough to make a profit. That doesn't mean that I could be asked to write something else.**

**Also if this is the publisher friend reading this them I'm guessing you have no background information on this story and that it seems to have rubbish depth then allow me to explain. This story is a fanfic and the idea of a fanfic is to base a story off an already existing universe. I based this one of a game called Gears of War. If you don't know what some of the things are such as weapons of what a 'Locust' is, then I suggest looking it up on 'Gearspedia'. I also suggest using that site to look up the basic story and especially the event 'Emergence Day'.**

**That's it for this special author note and as usual... Keep on writing people. :)**


	18. A New Foe

**Hey all, nice to see people adding me on Xbox Live. Nice to have some decent team mates rather than random, incompetent strangers. But the offer still stands, always looking for some more buddies. Not much else to say at the moment. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Streets Outside Char Imulsion Co.

01:12 07-01-2012

'Douglas Carmine'

"Well... I have to hand it to the Locust they make damn good weapons".

Russell smirked at his own comment as he hefted more of the shotgun drums onto his ammo belt. Douglas cut in.

"Damn powerful is what they are. These shells look like they split up into thirty calibre bullets; that's mammoth stopping power".

Russell went to climb the edge of the firing pit but a large rumble in the ground put him off.

"Anyone else feel that?"

Laurance pressed his ear against the ground.

"Hell if I know. I would of said minor tremor a year ago... but with these fuckers getting around underground it must be a big creature or the first option".

Another, larger rumble went off and Laurance bolted upright and ran for the edge of the firing pit shouting.

"I'm going with option two!"

He hefted himself out of the pit followed closely by Douglas and the others as a Corpser erupted from the dirt. Most fire was directed away from the horde and towards the new, larger threat but the fort wasn't packing enough juice to take down a Corpser. Especially one as large as this, it even rivalled Brumak with ease, even dwarfing it. With a mighty roar the Corpser rose its limbs and struck down causing smaller holes to open up from which a new form of Locust emerged.

"What the hell are those!"

They looked like Locust but were seriously deformed and had large flexible pipes sticking from their backs. They seemed to be on leashes however, showing that they were probably very feral like Berserkers. The large black Therons keeping them back released the leashes and dove into various pieces of cover as the creatures screamed and charge in a frenzied horde. Douglas raised his new Shotgun which he had decided to nickname the 'Ripper' and pulled the trigger sending a large group of the mutants through the air in various pieces. Landing in sickly puddles they were replaced by more creatures rising from the holes. But something unexpected happened, they were the same deformed creatures but glowing with a yellow tinge. The elite Therons were having none of this as they turned and opened fire on the creatures. Douglas and the others used this as a chance to back off to a crater for cover.

"Uhhmmm. Can someone please explain to me what the fuck those things are and why the regular Locust are shooting the glowy Locust".

"Perhaps I can answer that".

Everyone turned their heads to see Varrick standing on top of the crater rim with a Longshot slung over his back and supporting his arms.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

'Varrick'

Douglas shrugged his shoulders.

"Soooo. Care to enlighten us".

I dropped down next to them and took a seat, making sure I was relaxed I took a deep breath.

"Well, what if were to tell you that my people invaded your domain because we were forced to... and that the thing that forced us was over there".

A glowing Sire jumped over the mound but I didn't care and just rose my Gnasher, sending a blast upwards I heard a tare and then a wet smack as the Sire hit the ground in front of us. Douglas got up and prodded the corpse with his shotgun.

"You mean theses things".

"Correct and for names sake call them Lambent".

Russell wasn't the happy at all, especially after making a certain comment almost two weeks prior. So how come you've never mentioned them before.

"Didn't think I had to, last I heard the Lambent had all but disappeared after we stomped down an incursion three weeks before the invasion of the surface. I thought we had finished them off. The high ups obviously thought otherwise and they were right".

Douglas rose in front of me and pulled the bolt on his shotgun.

"So are we just going to sit here talking or are we going to send these fuckers to where ever they came from".

I nodded in agreement and unslung my Gnasher. Laurance took it from me and handed me one of the larger shotguns.

"This is a big gun".

Douglas butted in.

"I call it a Ripper".

Russell smiled.

"Ripper it is".

We clambered up the crater and watched the massive battle unfold in front of us, the Corpser had pretty much mashed up all the Lambent that rose from the holes but moments later several large stalks rose from the ground and began to wrap around the Corpser's legs. It dropped several fleshy pods which opened up into large creatures with fat bodies and tiny heads. They began to destroy the Corpser with large mortars of yellow gunk. This didn't last long, they were quickly cut down by something automatic and obviously high calibre. They exploded and as the smoke cleared a single large silhouette began to emerge from the smoke. I could already tell who it was and so could the others as they all crouched behind the rim of the crater, readying their Rippers. It called out to us.

"TRAITOR!"

I took a large breath and shouted back in the most gruff Locust voice I could muster.

"RAAM!"

I ended the shout with a long Theron like hiss, this seemed to only aggravate RAAM further as he came charging out of the smoke towards us, krill failing to catch up and cover him at the same time. We opened up with our shotguns but he had already slowed down enough for the krill to cover him as the Ripper rounds ate away at them instead. The bigger problem was that he was getting an infinite supply of them from the clouds above, but luck was on our side. Several Lambent Sires jumped from a nearby e-hole and landed around RAAM attempting to pierce his krill shield. They were quickly eaten away by the krill but that left RAAM exposed to our weapons. He dove as several of our pellets pinged of his right leg. He let out a roar and several armoured Kantuses rose from small e-holes and began assaulting our position with their Gorgons. There was enough led flying down range that it might as well of been a wall. When the Kantuses stopped to reload we rose and fired. It turned out our extremely powerful shotguns not only pierced their armour but also ripped apart the Kantuses themselves. The other ones who caught on more quickly dove for cover like their leader. The krill had properly returned to RAAM now and he mounted the cover to give another attempt at charging us. As he closed the distance we trimmed away the last of his krill, there weren't going to be any more because he had went to far into the light of Char Imulsion Co's spotter lamps. He didn't need them any more though because he had already leapt through the air at us. We all rolled out of the was but his shear weight caused a minor shock wave upon his landing. He turned to face me and I rose pulling the trigger on my Ripper only to hear the dreaded click of the no ammo in chamber problem. The others had problems likewise apart from Douglas who had seemed to jam his. RAAM gave a swipe with his left forearm but a ducked and hooked him in the gut. This accomplished nothing as he smiled and rose a leg, booting me across the crater he turned to the others who had all finished reloading, still barring Carmine. They shot at him but the pellets had little effect on his armour before he stepped before Russell and swiped the gun from his hands. Russell looked shocked but was still in control as RAAM grabbed his by the throat and hefted him into the air. Russell must have been terrified but didn't show it as RAAM snarled at him. RAAM shook him a bit but Russell just spat in his eyes. RAAM snarled again and reached for his blade but met empty air as he realised his sheath was empty. I called out.

"Hey, looking for this!"

I hefted his blade in the air with one hand while I was still lying on my back. His kick had obviously re-fractured some of my hastily healed ribs. He dropped Russell, completely forgetting that he even existed and began advancing on me slowly. I began to stand up but fell on one knee using the blade as a crutch I lifted myself back up in time to face him head on. Adrenaline flushed my system and I completely ignored the pain I felt seconds ago. RAAM raised a fist slowly obviously aware of my condition, he dragged it out as much as he could to prolong my suffering. He never got the chance. He swung his arm full force but I rolled under it, wincing as I got up I drew the blade from behind me and charged. He spun on the spot and gave a roundhouse kick but I ducked low, continuing the charge with a roadie run. I swept the sword upwards with my remaining strength and was satisfied as I heard the most feral and agonised scream of all my life. I released the handle and rolled back as RAAM swept his arm down to bat me away. As I came out of the role I saw RAAM wrenching the blade from its jammed position with watery wince and a low yelp. He used the momentary pause to catch his breath. He turned his form towards me and stretched his arm in my direction with a menacing point, his arm twitching and wobbling with spasms of pain. He took a step forwards but was blown sideways, towards the craters edge as Douglas advanced on him, barrel of his Ripper smoking from a recent shot. He pulled the bolt back again and took aim. Firing another shot, RAAM flinched back further. RAAM had enough and turned to run. Hobbling from the crater at a fast pace Douglas gave chase but I grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him from chasing him any further. Douglas removed his helmet and smiled.

"That'll teach him not to fuck with us".

I moved over to Russell and helped Laurance pick him up.

"C'mon lets get Aaron and pull back to base".

Laurance nodded and Carmine took point as we hurried to the safe zone, bullets whizzing all around us.

**Well that's it for this chapter. It occurred to me that RAAM never really had any proper successors other than Skorge. So I took the liberty of explaining why he had no inheritors of his own. I'm also trying to manage my time slightly better so I can make better or longer chapters but that's it this time people. Until next time.**


	19. Renewed Effort

**Oh god I've been so busy this week and I just haven't gotten around to updating until now. On the bright side, Halo 4 information has been released, you can find it by typing in youtube 'Halo 4: First Look'. The game looks brilliant and seems to have a blend between Reach and Halo 3 mechanics and game play. I also just found out about the official new on the xbox 720. It's going to be completely cloud based and not use a disk tray which means no more bloody scratched disks. Thank god and sorry to keep you people waiting. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Char Imulsion Co.

01:21 07-01-2012

'Varrick'

I hefted Russell over the sandbags and put him down in cover while Laurance and Douglas kept our back secure.

"You going to be alright Russell?"

Russell gave a violent cough and smiled at me.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Trust me".

I nodded and mounted back over the barrier. I walked over to the other two and we began to walk off to find Aaron. The rocky terrain had become piles of rubble from all the heavy weaponry and explosive, so I kept finding myself stumbling over every few moments. The battle itself was dying down and was safe enough for us to walk across no man's land without any serious problems, the Locust had all been destroyed and RAAM had pulled back while the last of the Lambent were being picked off by the snipers as they emerged from their various pieces of cover. It didn't take us long to find Aaron as we followed the sound of gunfire and found him sitting atop a pile of Locust and Lambent corpses brandishing a Gnasher in his hands and a machete spread across his lap.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up after all".

I pinched the bridge of my nose after removing my helmet.

"C'mon Aaron, we haven't got time for this bull crap".

He flung himself from the pile and touched down on the ground. He didn't say anything to us as he began walking back to the base, shooting any corpse he could find along the way. We followed, mostly disgusted by his actions as he continued to defile the bodies of the dead. Something inside me died that day and I'm almost sure it was my sympathy for Aaron. He had turned into a stuck up, ass hole.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

08:20

I barged into the conference room which had been converted into our room of command, where we planned all our salvages and scouting runs; today it had a much more serious plan brewing. Lots of different questions and ideas were being passed around.

"How do we get down there?"

"Maybe if we follow their supply lines?"

"Well what about the kind of resistance we will face?"

I approached the middle where all our highest ranking C.O.G soldiers were discussing our plan of action. I stepped up to Laurance.

"Hows the plan coming along?"

Laurance sighed and kept his eyes fixated on the map of Char in front of him, making sure his head didn't turn to meet mine.

"It's going dreadfully. We can't make this any more successful than a suicide mission in theory... Hows Russell holding up?"

"He was just checked out of med-bay before I came down here. Severe bruising to his larynx and a mild concussion. Took them a lot longer to fix him up than they did you".

Laurance gave a small chuckle but still kept fixated on the map. At this point one of the other gears faced me and gave a short nod.

"Ah Varrick, how nice to see you up and about. What of your injuries?"

I gave a small click of my tongue.

"I heal faster than humans they just had to give me some painkillers and let my fractured bones heal on their own. There wasn't anything they could do about the one rib that pierced my first heart after breaking. It doesn't matter, I have a second one. Care to go over the plan?"

"Of course. As you know, from what you've told us the Locust are led by a royal leader known as Queen Myyrah and you believe the only way to give a swift end to this war is to eliminate her, therefore banishing her idealogical hold on them or at least making them less cohesive when it comes to warfare. Now the problem is that we have a limited window to do this. You say that she normally lives in an underground Palace so far below the surface and so heavily guarded that it would take a well equipped army to successfully invade this 'Nexus'. However from what we can gather about the Queen through various hacks into Locust terminals and interrogation of P.O.W's. We have learned that the palace was severely damaged by a Lambent assault, to the point in which it is currently safe to live in. She has therefore taken temporary domicile in a Kantus temple in one of the upper hollow caverns. One which must be close to Char as you saw here giving a speech to her troops not too long ago".

I nodded.

"Go on".

"Now the tricky part is getting some sort of attack to such a heavily guarded location. We do not have an army big enough to strike heavy without communication from the rest of the C.O.G and a small infiltration team would just be suicide. The rest such as location and transport we've pretty much got covered and we will begin amassing supplies for the attempt once the plan is finalised".

"So we go for the middle".

"Excuse me?"

I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward, grabbing the attention to all the commanders standing around it.

"It really is simple. If we can't get a big enough army to assault and a tiny squad would just die before the mission is complete then we just go for the middle and sneak in a strike force. Probably every C.O.G soldier here which is around twenty'ish".

Realisation dawned upon the people around the table and they all began scribbling furiously on notepads all their ideas while also debating them to get the best possible plan of assault. Laurance patted me on the shoulder and motioned for us to leave with his thumb pointing at the door. We left the gears to their work.

**I'm so sorry that this chapter is so short, it quite literally is all filler but I will put more effort into the next one. Well the guys are planning an assassination and Aaron finally hit the stage of ass hole. I'm not really planning for him to stick around much longer anyway.**


	20. The Descent

**Hi all, well the next arc is kicking off in this chapter and trust me you won't be disappointed by it's results. Also I would like to thank you all for the adds on xbox and the reviews. As for that comment on regenerating Locust, don't worry, all will be explained in due course. That's it for now. Keep on writing people. :)**

Char Imulsion Co.

12:30 28-01-2012

'Varrick'

I stood over the gaping chasm that lay before me and kicked a stone down. It rebounded off the sides several times before finally falling into darkness and kept on falling until I heard a loud 'thunk' a couple of seconds later.

"Hey Varrick, c'mon man, we're dropping down in a minute. Suit up".

I turned to Laurance who was poking me in the back with the hilt of my knife. I took it from his grip and sheathed it on my chest plate which was lying on the floor. I was currently standing with my under armour clothing on. The stuff was new, fabricated by the civies after the siege of the base. It reduced rubbing and increased manoeuvrability within the suit. I pulled the chest plate from the floor and pressed it against my chest. I pressed down the clamps and then began attaching my thigh plates. I had painted the armour to a dull blue to help the others tell me apart from the other Locust a little easier in a heavy combat zone. I turned to the large piles of ammo and weapons sitting just metres away and walked up. Sifting through the weapons I found my favourites. A Torque bow, Scorcher, Gorgon and Frags. The rest of the C.O.G were doing likewise with their preferred weapons of choice.

Since the siege of Char Imulsion Co, things had been put into perspective a little. We realised that we couldn't survive forever against the mounting hordes and every now and then we lost a man or women or even a child once or twice. The bigger problem came from the fact that the Locust came in an almost infinite supply; we didn't. Everyone who went down was not replaced and the toll was wearing us thin. So we decided to do something I had formulating in my mind for a while now. It was true that a majority of Locust were fickle minded and just followed their superiors blindly, that being said if we were to eliminate the core leadership of the horde then the rest would turn to a feral state. True some would still be so heavily indoctrinated that they would form their own, smaller war bands while others would become tribes both above and below the surface now that they knew what was up here but they would not be cohesive and they certainly wouldn't be as big a problem as they are right now.

To our fortune, as we were planning a place to drop into the hollow the large holes that the Lambent stalks had made, opened up in a group to form a large chasm running down the road. It went down into the lower levels of the hollow and from there it wouldn't be hard for me to guide the group to the Kantus temple grounds.

"Hey Varrick! Get the rest of your damn armour on!"

I looked up from my Scorcher to see Aaron walking over to me. My patience had run dry for him over the last week. I don't know if it was the stress or lack of it that made him this way but he seemed to be quite generally an ass-hole all the time from now on. I gave a courteous nod and went back to examining my Scorcher. He placed a hand on my Scorcher and pressed it down making me look up at him.

"Awww, c'mon Varrick, don't be like that. This should be a good time to say our goodbyes. What are you so pissed about".

I pulled the Scorcher away from his grip and attached it to my back plating.

"Well, if you would really like to know; it's the fact that your just abandoning us that's really got me stumped. I mean how could you leave us like this?"

He smirked and did a pistol with his fingers, pressing it up to his head he pretended to blast it through his brains.

"Well someone's got to hold down the fort and it might as well be me. Besides I don't think I could bare to go on month long mission with C.O.G, I would probably shoot myself first".

I pulled my wrist clamps tight and looked up at him.

"So... this is it huh?"

He sighed.

"It appears so. Goodbye Varrick".

He stuck out his hand and I hesitated before taking it in a shake. He was trying his best not to seem like a jackass for fobbing this mission off. He turned and walked back to the main entrance, I didn't bother watching him enter, I focused on my boots instead.

A few minutes of general relaxation passed before Russell mounted a pile of crates and cleared his throat very loudly.

"Gears, Comrades, Friends. Today we are going to do something that will be looked back at and smiled upon for all of human history. We are going to show these 'Locust', what happens when you fuck with humanity. We didn't survive a giant war amongst ourselves to be wiped out by some ugly freaks, present company excluded. Ancient man was feared by the all animals alike. The C.O.G was feared by UIR and now it is time for Humans to be feared by the Locust. We will show them what 'man-power' really means and we will smother them into the dirt by taking that which is precious to them. Their beloved Queen Myyrah. Soldier's of the C.O.G this mission will not only define you but all of Human history, so for every man, women and child out there, gears roll out!"

There was an almighty roar shed by the amassed crowd as they all ran for various rappel-lines and bean to descend. Alpha (my) team would be the last to descend down the four ropes, which meant it would be a while until our turn because of the sheer distance we had to descend. I looked at the rest of Alpha team which consisted of me, Russell, Laurance and Carmine. All of them were suited up to the brim with C.O.G weapons and hastily fitted extra armour.

"Y'know you guys really should get some Locust weapons. There aint much C.O.G stuff down there".

Russell patted his Lancer and smirked.

"Nah, we prefer to fight with true blue C.O.G guns, not radical red Locust".

I enacted a human gesture known as a face-palm and walked over to the rappel-lines. Giving a tug at the rope I was greeted by a tug the other way, indicating that the ropes were clear. I clambered over the edge and clipped my belt to the rope, the others did likewise and we all released, slowly descending into the dark void. What I was greeted with was not what I expected to see.

What I had expected to see was a eerie cavern lit by Imulsion. What I got was a huge cavern that was softly illuminated by shafts of sunlight seeping through various emergence holes. It added a whole new perspective to the place where I had grown up and it looked nothing similar. I even found myself gawking at the spectacle before me. It was twenty odd seconds before our boots touched solid ground and I could easily say I am lad that we're on the floor and not an easy target for snipers. Not that I think and saw us. Staff Sargent Anderson approached me and gave a casual salute.

"So sir, which was to the temple?"

We had landed on the upper parts of an underground plateau that my people called scorns pass and from here it was a thirty mile hike towards the temple and we would have to pass through two smaller fort settlements before reaching there. I observed the pillars around me and looked for the disfigured one which indicated north. I pointed about ten degrees to the right of the pillar and called.

"That way".

We all drew our longer ranged weapons and set out on the trek.

We had covered about two miles before something caught my attention and I motioned for all the strike force to halt. They all stopped on their various tracks around the rocky outcrops. I dropped to a prone position and began shuffling towards the edge of a miniature cliff. Coming to the drop I peered over and my suspicions were confirmed as I saw a small patrol with several Wretches working their way through the lower rocks. I pulled back slightly and motioned for all force members to get into flanking positions while my team picked at them with ranged weaponry. I squeezed down the trigger on my Torque bow and hear the soft 'hum' as it slowly built up energy. I had swapped out the normal, explosive bolts for a non reactive counterpart which was quieter and travelled longer distances with more accuracy. The bow hit the point of maximum charge and I released my grip on the trigger sending the bolt flying out of the barrel and towards the head of the furthest Drone. There was a squishy pop as the Drones head left his body and planted to the nearest rock along with the bolt. It took the others only micro-seconds to figure out what was going on and dive fore cover as we opened up with our combined fire power. Most of them fell quickly from the fire emitted by the flanking teams but some had chosen rather decent pieces of cover and held out for something. I quickly found out what.

Several screeches were heard overhead as two Reavers touched down in the lower round but something was different about these ones. Instead of small rocket launchers they sported very long barrels and were painted with red stripes down their armour. I didn't want to risk it and Alpha team all rolled for cover as large jets of napalm erupted from the tubes and coated the fronts of all the rocks of where we had been positioned moments ago; I shouted out.

"Everyone keep your heads down, Napalm Reavers!"

"Jesus, God dam Christ!"

"I'm caught, I'm caught".

"Hold still, let me put it out".

I swore under my breath and turned to round the cover and shot the secondary gunner off his seat before he even fired a single Torque bow bolt. The other Reaver gunner had other plans than death and shifted his attention to me, charging up a bolt he aimed at me but I got back behind cover. He however was a little smarter than that. He raised the Torque bow up and fired before the bolt fully charged up. The bolt arced through the air and landed a metre in front of me. I rolled and roadie ran as a jet of flaming gel nipped at my rear. I pulled up next to Laurance who pointed at my ass.

"Uh Varrick, your ass is alight".

"Shit!"

I patted it out as quickly as I could and re-drew my weapons.

"Those bastards, they've bumped up their fire power a fair bit since my absence".

Anderson rose as some of the heat was taken of his squad, literally.

"Hang on, I've got this".

He pulled up the prototype rocket launcher I had seen on new years and levelled the large barrel on the Reaver with a gunner. With an almighty 'thwoosh' the rocket left its tube and quite literally tore through the first Reaver and detonated in the second. Both monsters collapsed and we finished off the survivors before they could recover. With the battle over I sent Laurance up the tallest rock with a pair of binoculars to check for anything that was going to respond to the sound of battle. I assembled the strike team and inspected them.

"Any serious injuries?"

Anderson stepped forward and bean listing off team injuries.

"Minor burns on most of the team and Rodriguez has a large gash across his right leg from a glancing Torque bolt".

"Alright, we'll camp here tonight and heal our wounds if Laurance gives the all clear".

At that moment Laurance descended from his perched position.

"Looks all clear at the moment but I reckon we set a look out rota".

I nodded.

"Agreed. Anderson you got the first hour, Russell second and I'll take the rest of the night since I need less sleep".

Everyone dissipated to set up little spots of comfort to rest while Anderson took the binoculars from Laurance and ascended the large rock. I observed the team and was quite pleased with the results. After such a harrowing experience with nearly being burned alive they all seemed to be fine. That was good but as my instructor always used to tell me 'Shell shock will come and bite you in the ass when you least expect it'. And with that I went off to my own corner for a well deserved brake.

**Well I'm increasing my chapter length again so get used the to 3,000 numbers appearing and I would like to apologise in advance for any lacks in the letter 'g'. I'm a fast writer and my g key has recently broke so I have to hold down the button for a second before I can start typing other stuff. Well that's it for now.**


	21. Imprisonment

**Well... I fixed the 'g' key... sort of. Oh well, I haven't been on the xbox in a while, because of this chapter mainly. I've been thinking too much about what's going to go in and what's going to be cut out at the last minute. So much to write in such a small space of time. I've been reading over the reviews and don't worry... I have taken some stuff into consideration. It's time for me to get my lazy ass in gear and get this story kicked into overdrive. Keep on writing people. XD**

**Super Intendant**

The Upper Hollows

03:00 29-01-12

'Varrick'

Waking was hard. Not because it was early in the morning, not because my body wasn't rested enough. Just because I couldn't bear to get up and deal with all the crap that I had to face on a daily basis. I rolled over on the rocky ground and pressed my face against the cold rock, hoping that would perk me up a bit... it didn't. I tossed and turned in my corner until I was nudged by someone's boot.

"C'mon man, get your ass off the floor and in gear. We have a spec-ops mission to finish".

Turning I saw Anderson giving me a crooked smile, or was it just the position I was in and the way I was looking up at him. He nudged me again with his boot and I began to climb up to a standing position. I took my weapons from the corner and began placing them firmly on the back plating of my armour. The magnets locked the weapons in place and I then put my gorgon in its holster. Last came the grenades and I chucked them in my utility pouch located on my left thigh. Properly standing straight for the first time in hours #, I gave my back a small click then trotted over to the rest of the group. The ground was craggy and covered in small, sharp rocks. The air was cool yet there was no breeze, as if to signify the fact that it was a massive cave and I felt properly at home for the first time in months. This environment was one I grew up in and I would be dammed if I was going to let my fellow soldier die in it. I was native to the layout and the infrastructure of the hollow. So secretly navigating it would be easy, as well as locating and killing the Queen within the temple.

It took two hours to get everyone up and moving and then we set off across the hazardous terrain once more to close more distance between us and the target. Also it was a good idea to avoid staying in the same location for and obscene amount of time. We had pushed it to an edge when we camped in a combat zone, where we had faced off against a grub patrol and a new variant of the Reaver which terrified me. As much as I loved the flame-thrower, I hate to be on the receiving end. The dull blue paint on my but plates were wearing off from all the sliding and my ass being on fire. If I had bothered to inspect the damaged more closely I wouldn't be too shocked to find some serious burn marks on my cheeks but as the humans say 'out of sight, out of mind'. Not much time passed and we reached the first obstacle that would elude us from our prize. 'The Flow of Essence' is what my people called it. The humans would call it a big imulsion river. Douglas approached the edge and kicked a rock in.

"Great... any ideas on how to cross Varrick?"

I searched up and down the river with my eyes as far as I could see and failed to spot the object we were looking for.

"Dammit, there used to be a natural rock arch which went over the river. Either it finally gave way or more likely the Locust det-packed it, to make it harder for a frontal assault. Lucky for us I know another way".

I pointed up to the rook of the cave and everyone's heads followed my point as I picked out a large beetle lick being carrying a barge on its back. The thing was clinging to the roof and slowly moving along. I turned back to the others.

"Okay guys, we got to beat that thing to the next checkpoint and then board it".

"Oh fuck".

Laurance muttered under his breath and we set off at a light jog to beat the large creature to the next drop-off point.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Unknown Location

Unknown Time and Date

Unknown Member of Theta Squad

'Cough, Hack, Splutter'. He lolled his head against the metal wall of the cell and stared upwards at the dim source of light emanating from the grating above the top section of the door. He shakily got to his legs and edged his was towards the door and pressed his forehead against the thick, metal bulkhead and wheezed until his throats pain subsided from being so raw and dry. He stumbled sideways as the room lurched to the right and he smacked into the wall with a wet slap. He fell on the hard ground and felt the blood trickle from his nose. The barge lurched again; this time to the left and he slid across the floor and whacked against the opposite wall on his back. Groaning he tried clinging to any surface so he could right himself being as the floor around him was now slick with his blood. He attempted several times, each time just slipping on the ground and making the bleeding much more severe. Eventually giving up he used the slippery floor to twist himself so he was facing the door and began day-dreaming. He looked back to the last day he had spent on the surface. Rumours had been going around about some sort of attack from under-ground by mutants. The C.O.G had initially denied it and stated that it was probably some large radical group using clever ploys to make the people believe there was a full scale invasion. The Chairman himself said he would officially send reconnaissance teams to check all the turmoil going on in Char and similar cities. They never actually retuned and the Government began to panic a little, believing that the Gorasni had some sort of last stand, undercover army that had launched an inner counter-offensive on the people of Sera. They quickly dispatched small liberation forces to free the captured cities. He never got a chance to find out what had become of them. No more than five hours after the liberation forces were dispatched that the true enemy had emerged from the town square of his home city Landown. He cringed at the thought but it didn't disappear from his mind, he was a captive audience to the turmoil which plagues his mind. He wasn't at the square at the time but he was damn close. The localised earthquake was enormous and had knocked all around him to their feet. Rising, he was greeted by a hail storm of bullets, whizzing in random trajectories around him. Forces put up a feeble resistance but managed to hold out a few hours. As far as he knew he was the only one they took alive.

He gasped and coughed as blood from his nose bleed trickled down his throat. Righting himself on the drying blood he attempted to stand once more and as he made it halfway up the door opened and two particularly burly monsters stepped in and observed him trying to right himself. They didn't seem so much angry as they were awed by his presence. He stood upright and gave them the same critical gaze. One began to edge forward slowly and reached for him with his left hand but before he could get right-up close the other one grunted and he withdrew his hand. The one standing back motioned for him to follow them. He began to limp forward slowly but they didn't have the patience for it. One grabbed him by the remains of his destroyed armour and pull him along the floor, a very small trail of blood followed him. They pulled him to a mechanical lift and deposited him on the floor; stepping inside they hit a leaver and set the elevator in motion. As it travelled downwards he felt my nausea kick in and he rolled over on his back and groaned. The ride didn't last long and one dragged him across the open deck of what appeared to be some barge from all he could see. They were dragging him backwards so he could not see where he was being brought to. They hoisted the man up and placed him in some sort of metal sarcophagus, thoughts ran through his slowed mind and he slowly began to react to the rough treatment. After squirming too much one drew back its arm to sock him across the jaw but before the monster could do anything its brains flew from its head, accompanied by a fountain of blood. The creature dropped and the others turned their attention to the port side leaving him to slump in the cold container.

The Upper Hollows

03:45 29-01-12

'Varrick'

Laurance lowered the Longshot from his shoulder and we all opened up with our various ranged weapons. The second grub dropped from a kickshot round as its head imploded. I did a quick head count of the enemy and found that we were missing two of them.

"Oi Laurance, were missing two of the bastards, you see 'em?"

"Yeah they just took the elevator back up, although I don't see why".

Why would they do that?

"Hey Russell, can you see label along the side of the barge from where you are".

"Yeah... hang on... 'awww dammit, its in Locust. I can't read Locust".

"Never mind that, just describe the symbols to me".

I saw him lower further down the side of the docking pad and he then called over.

"Uhh... looks like a triangle with a sun on top that's been drawn by a five year old".

I ducked under a volley of Hammerburst rounds and then placed a bolt in the ribcage of my shooter.

"That means heavy cargo, but I'm not sure what kind, are there any more runes?"

At that moment a hatch opened under the holding bay and two hunched mech/robot things dropped down with the grubs riding them. Douglas called out before dodging a volley of high calibre round.

"Shit, looted Silverbacks. Everyone hit the dirt".

I wasn't going to be told twice and ducked low as a line of rockets flew overhead. For once I was the one uneducated on defeating a foe. I had no idea on how to dispatch a Silverback.

"Guys I'm in the dark here. How do we waste these things".

Douglas crawled along the cover and sat next to me.

"I did a pilots course on those things. They're pretty much invincible from the front but easy prey when you flank".

I blind fired a few Gorgon rounds at them.

"Oh great, how are we going to flank them when the only way to the barge is forward?"

"Grenades?"

Laurance joined us and put his input to the conversation.

"Can't there's POWs on board and a few on the main deck".

"Anyone feel like getting a little creative?"

I looked around for some sort of option but none were readily available to us. Belting from the cover I hit a barrier further up to get a better vantage point. I was really stuck for ideas. None seemed to be that viable but I didn't give up just yet, one seemed to have crept into my mind but someone else beat me to the punch. A bloodied and battered body rose from a metal cylinder on the barge behind the Silverbacks and grabbed a pistol from a nearby corpse, he stumbled across the floor in a very unprofessional matter but the Silverbacks guns had drowned out the noise with the sound of machines churning as the metal serpents spat bullets. He stood behind the first Silverback and rose the Snub, what happened next amazed me. He pulled the trigger, killing the first grub and then snapped his arm with lightning quick speed and pulled a trick-shot without even bothering to aim. The Silverbacks powered down without their drivers alive to control them and they sat there, dormant. The man behind the gun immediately slumped against the Silverback, all of his adrenaline now leaving his system. All of us rose slowly from our various pieces of cover, wary of the Silverbacks just sitting there. I approached the barge and climbed in. I walked across the metal floors and approached the man leaning against the device.

"Hey, you still alive?"

"'Cough' Yeah just abou..."

He turned, saw who I was and immediately snapped his gun and shot before I could do anything.

"Fuck I missed!"

"SHIT!"

I was hunched on the ground with blood spurting from the side of my neck. He had grazed it and the wound was deep. The others boarded the barge and rushed the man to stop him from doing any more damage. For once, someone had actually jumped the gun before asking and I was in agonizing pain for it. Russell and Douglas tackled him to the floor while Anderson called a medic to check my wound. After the medic dismissing it as an easy self-heal I stood and felt slightly dizzy from the loss of blood. The man wasn't resisting the lock he had been put in but then again, he didn't really look like he had the strength to do anything. I walked over to the man and crouched in front of him, he seemed to be terrified, I didn't blame him, especially so since I knew what Locust did to prisoners as the Theron interrogation training had taught me.

"Hey, I'm Varrick and you are?"

He didn't meet my gaze but he did respond.

"Lance Corporal Valiant".

"Well Valiant, you've shot me in the neck intending to kill me and I haven't ripped your arm off and started beating you with it. What do you think that means?"

The others let go of him and he rose.

"Defector?"

I sighed and gave a shrug of my shoulders.

"If even that, I joined a group of stranded after the initial invasion. We haven't actually with the official government and I don't think they would be too happy to see me".

He stuck his hand out and I took it in the gesture that I had grown quite accustomed to.

"My real names Valiant but my friends, now probably deceased called me Trickster".

I ordered the medic to give Trickster a proper examination and the man declared that he was not capable of doing much to help Valiant's current condition. He bandaged some wound and made makeshift splints for the injured bones but no more.

"How good are you at riding Silverbacks?"

"I used one once but never did any training on them".

I looked at Douglas.

"Carmine, you said that you did a pilots course on these things, didn't you?"

"Yeah".

"Excellent, you and Trickster are riding. We could use the mobile fire-power. As for the rest of you... search the upper room for more Locust or survivors".

They set off in fours up the lift and I moved the switch on the barge and pulled it down. The device sent an electrical charge to the creature, telling it to take off again. It did as it was told and set off. Trickster was talking to Douglas as they were both sat in their own Silverbacks going through system diagnostics. I sighed and sat down to rest, thinking I chuckled. 'One more man to the meat grinder'. The problem was is that I didn't know who was operating the grinder and who was stuck inside, Locust or Human?

**Sorry this is slightly late but I was enjoying myself and having a wonderful time out with mates and such forth. But anyway here it is. **

**P.S Oh and Violent... I swear to god if you ever come up with a name like that ever again I will proceed to brain you with the closest thing to a club that I can find. It took me a while to rescue the character. Oh well, see you on Xbox Live.**


	22. Old Memories

**I'm pumped and jumping like a rabbit on steroids. I've had the closest thing to a light bulb popping over my head than I ever had before. What I mean is that although I promised to do an ODST fanfic first, I had a brilliant for one to follow that one up and its so brilliant that I've already started to plan out all the intricate details and I'm using its wiki to make sure the canon is as accurate as possible. But ODST comes first... 'sigh' oh well, lets finish up this fanfic. Keep on writing people. XD**

**Super Intendant**

Upper Hollows

03:55 29-01-12

'Varrick'

Things had really started to look up for us. Not only had we got s#this far without loosing anyone, we also found an extra person and two Silverbacks for transport and fire-power. Douglas had taught Trickster pretty quickly and now they were slowly moving around the deck of the barge keeping a lookout for any hostile barges or Reavers. At that moment, Russell called down from the hatch we had failed to close.

"Varrick, get your ass up here. We got good news".

I smiled and strolled to the elevator. Things just kept getting better. I stepped onto the metal pad and pressed the button, waiting for it to ascend. The thing began to lift slowly and I looked up to the hole in the holding area floor. Russell was starring down at me but he seemed impatient. I reached the top and the first thing I laid eyes upon made my smile turn into something close to that of a maniac. There, laid in front of me was a very large stockpile of prototype C.O.G and Locust weapons, hell I even saw some extra attachments for the Silverback. We pushed them down the hatch and they all landed with a loud crash and 'clang'. Douglas turned to face the stuff in his machine and instantly dismounted when he noticed the stuff. He rummaged through the pile and pulled out what looked like a large barrel with and intricate cylinder behind it. He dragged it along the floor and hooked it up to the side of the Silverback that was bare. He did likewise with an identical part on Tricksters Silverback. I called down.

"Douglas, what are those things your attaching?"

He looked up to me with a mischievous grin.

"One-shots, adapted for the Silverback".

"One-shots?"

Russell interjected.

"Super sniper rifles, basically. They're quite new to the field".

"How powerful are they?"

Anderson hefted his missile launcher and patted it.

"They match up to my old ex-wife over here, or the bitch slap. I don't know, which names better?"

Douglas mounted up on his Silverback and called up.

"Yo, 'fellas, we got the next drop-off point about five minutes in the distance. You might want to prep".

I dropped down the hatch and picked up one of the missile launchers and hefted it onto my shoulder. I smirked.

"Lets give these fuckers a taste of real fire-power".

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

The barge pulled up and the Locust were confused as to why it was empty. That is until we all popped up from cover and the Silverbacks dropped from the hatch again. We unleashed a torrent of missile and machine-gun fire upon them and they quickly dropped. We didn't play things carefully this time and give them the chance to recover. No, we threw all logic out the window and charged the enemy line with a heavy war-cry. The Locust were terrified but couldn't even raise their firearms as we ate into them with our various close-quarter weapons. They dropped like flies in bug spray and we pressed on as the Silverbacks mopped up from a distance. It wasn't long until the drop-off point was completely clear of hostiles and we moved on leaving a scarred battle-scape behind us. Douglas and Trickster caught up with us on their machines, a large amount of supplies strapped to the backs of the large machines. The concept of vehicles amazed me. While we relied on smaller devices attached to natural beasts the surface didn't have anything that large and effective so they made their vehicles completely machine built and relied of no organic material as part of the main components, perhaps their method was better. But ours was definitely more resource effective.

We travelled across the barren wastelands of the upper hollows, undisturbed until light began shining through the cracks in the surface again, giving it the illusion of being outside. All of us had consumed little rations since we set off and this was both good and bad. We were starting to lag behind schedule a little seeing as we hadn't been able to cross the originally intended plan of the rock bridge. We continued to push forward until late afternoon and we encountered something we weren't entirely expecting.

"A cave... seriously a fucking cave".

One of the gears wasn't too pleased by this concept and he started putting up a fuss as he kicked rocks around. Anderson turned to me and beckoned his hand into the mouth of the dark cave mouth.

"Care to light it up Varrick".

I reached down to my belt and whipped up a small thin red stick. Striking the top against the nearest rock I threw it in as it began to emit a green smoke and light. The cave was now illuminated but didn't look any more appeasing. I drew my Scorcher and slowly stepped inside, followed by the rest of the group.

"Hey Varrick, you been in this cave before?"

I scanned the low ceiling and looked towards the darkness stretching out into the distance.

"I don't remember but its giving me a serious sense of deja vu".

I stepped a little further in and then set off down the darkness before I toppled and fell down a large chute. I landed with a hard 'thud' and raised myself slowly to a guarded position. Voices started calling down the chute.

"Varrick! You okay down there, what happened?"

"I think I slipped down an old cave waterway, I'm fine though. You guys find another way around, I'll meet you on the other side".

"That's a negative".

I scowled and was about to call back up when two people slid through the dark and knocked me to my knees again. Standing and lighting another flare I was annoyed to see Anderson and Laurance lying on the floor in a dazed fashion.

"I said I was fine".

"Yeah but we reckoned you could use some help. Besides we got Russell commanding the others up top".

"Well there's not much I can do to stop you now is there".

Anderson let out a booming laugh.

"I supposed not, oh well lets move up".

We moved through the dark holding flares up high as we ducked, turned and weaved through the chasm. It wasn't long until we saw another source of light but I was made sceptical by this. It was probably artificial so that meant more Locust. I motioned for the others to follow carefully as I moved through the tiny gap that led to the dim light source. What I found sent reverberating shock down my body as I dropped my gun and collapsed to my knees. I edged forward and pressed my hands against the tattered cloth covering the ribcage of someone I knew long ago.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Several Years Ago...

I pressed my small body up against the cold rock face and perked my ears up for the sound of wretches. Sure enough they came dashing by my position, not noticing me hidden in the darkness. Once past me, along with their supervisor I edged back into the cave as darkness began to descend. I walked inside and sat down in front of him. I didn't have a name back then and he never did, nor had the chance to. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked up at him.

"Are you sure this was such a good idea?"

He uncrossed his legs from his sitting position and looked at me with a face of warm kindness.

"It's better than becoming what they're trying to turn us into. No emotion, no conscience, no nothing. Besides don't you ever want to see the surface?"

"The surface? You know that's just a child's myth right".

I looked at the only kid who was ever my intellectual equal and he hadn't even gone into Kantus training. His face showed no sign of mirth and he looked at me with a concerned eye.

"You actually listen to the stuff they tell you? It's rubbish, all of it".

"And I suppose your explanation is any more believable".

He perked up at this. Revelling in the chance to describe his magical surface again.

"I know its true because I've been there before, the last time I escaped".

"You didn't. When they brought you back they told you that you hit your head on a rock and started hallucinating".

"Also lies and I know this because it was all so vivid".

I smirked.

"Oh, do tell then".

He didn't seem to notice my amused attitude and continued anyway.

"The surface is glorious. The landscape was covered in a white powder with turned to water when you touched it and the air stretched on forever into a blue abyss, with no ceiling. It's cold but there was a bright orb in the sky that warmed you if you were facing it".

I laughed and patted him on the back.

"Thanks man, you made my day. I don't feel hopeless any more".

He could tell I was mocking him this time and shoved my hand away.

"Just wait 'till I bring you there. Then you'll be thinking differently".

I calmed down a bit and pulled him to his feet after getting up on my own.

"Okay, fine but first we have to get through this cave. You said this was the way you took last time?"

He turned around in the darkness and pointed down a narrow passage.

"Yeah, I went down that way".

We set off down the dark passageway and the sharp rocks dug into my back as I crept along. I swear one caught my back and cut it but I couldn't check because my arms weren't able to twist around in the tight space. We kept on walking and the I heard something crack.

"Did you hear that?"

He turned to me.

"Yeah, you don't think the wretches are chasing us through the passage do you?"

The 'crack' sound went off again and I pushed him in his back.

"Move, lets get as much distance between us ad them if it is".

He stepped forward and the floor gave out beneath us and we tumbled down a long chute which deposited us after five seconds of sliding. I got to my feet dizzy and looked over at my friend who was nursing his arm. He looked up at me.

"I think I've broken my arm".

I shrugged at him.

"So, it should heal quick".

He looked at me with grievous eyes.

"It wont. I was never baptised in imulsion".

His words sunk in and I began to panic a little. I crawled over and examined his injury.

"Ouch. Looks bad".

He began to freak.

"Oh shit, how am I going to get this fixed without imulsion? How am I going to climb out of here with a broken arm? Oh Queen no".

I backhanded him and he snapped out of it and rubbed his cheek while I grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Don't worry. I'll get out of here and find some sort of help of medication".

I looked at a pool of imulsion seeping through the rocks in the corner.

"And whatever you do, do not apply imulsion to that wound or drink it. It doesn't work like that".

He nodded and I got up to look for a way out. Noticing a think rock vent I crawled in and gave one last glance back before continuing onwards. I couldn't exactly get straight up help from other people otherwise they would turn me over and we would seriously get it. The vent slowly began to angle upwards while I was crawling until it reached ground level and I popped my head out. Checking the coast was clear I began to clamber out then looked around for any sort of viable area that may contain ways of helping my friend. I ran over a large rock arch after about an hour of hiking and it led to the more barren parts of the hollow. Turning and tracking a supply barge I began to follow it from the ground until it reached a docking point where some elders were busy unloading some supplies and loading on new ones. I sneaked my way through the maze of crates looking for a crate with the symbol of medication. Finding the right crate I popped the lid and began scrounging inside until I found an imulsion-stim injection. Putting the small device in between my teeth I turned around to receive a vicious slam to the face by the but of a Hammerburst Mk-I.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Present day...

I felt a tear stroll down my cheek as I examined the body and I sniffed.

"Know him?"

I didn't directly acknowledge him or his question, I just sort of began talking to myself or rather the corpse.

"They made me leave you... convinced me there was no surface and locked me away. But I began to believe that day, if anything just to spite them with your memory. I hope your resting easy".

I slipped the bronze, Locust dog tags from his neck and clasped them in my hand, reading his serial number.

"Goodbye two, nine, three. Your friend... two, seven, eight".

I stood up and slipped his tags around my neck. Turning to the others I motioned for us to set off.

**Well, there you go. A bit of back story, a bit of drama and an explanation for why some Locust heal and others don't. Its just a minor form of mutation from the imulsion when they're 'baptised' in it.**


	23. Prep To Drop

Opening Com-Lines . . . . . .

Establishing Connection . . . . . . . [95365826.135]

[WARNING-\Foreign AI Tap] [Terminating Tap...]

/File Directory/ Sourcing...

[Tap Located]

Procedure{10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3...}Success.

-Running Scrambler-

Signal Hidden, Code Generated [7123-777]

Attempting To Re-Establish Connection . . . . . . .

-Admiral Fergus-

Linking Via City AI Network-Hub...

-Admiral Fergus- You Are Now Linked [Via City AI -Visual-]

Receiving Packet Return...

(Searching...)

(Awaiting Connection Acceptance Via Governor Teresa)

[Accepted]

You Are Now Connected To Governor Teresa

File Transition Commencing Received By Governor [Designated 2...]

2- What's this file your sending me Admiral?

1- Its all the relevant information you are going to need for this operation. Lines are not secure enough for prolonged talk.

2- Understood Admiral. How are orbital defences?

1- Falling quickly. Heavily outnumbered! This will turn into a ground engagement momentarily.

2- Jiralhanae loses?

1- Major but still larger than friendly survivors.

-[WARNING-\Foreign AI Attempting To Re-Tap] Suggest Immediate Connection Disruption.

-Admiral Fergus- Has Severed Connection...

2- God's speed Admiral.

-Governor Teresa- Has Severed Connection...

Database Query Initiated

/Login/ Teresa_R45_Tangent

/Password/ **************** [SpiritOfTheEarth]

Welcome Governor Teresa...

/Accessing Files/-

-1 New File Found...

-Opening...

Operation- Burning Liberty

Designated Serial- 1825.16 RST

Mission Parameters- Liberation Of New Chicago

Effect Of Mission Success- Staging Point For Recovery Of Planet

Main Details- This specific operation, I am sure that you are aware of Governor requires a small team to then allow the main force to do its part. Fortunately we have the perfect man and squad for the job. Truly, if he were any better, he would be a Spartan.

Close File

Are You Sure, The File Is 1 Time Read Only And Has Not Been Fully Observed

Yes/No

**YES**

/File Closed/

**Well, well, well. What's this we have here? A spoiler for the next fanfic. Only time will tell.**


	24. Enter Ye' Of Strong Faith

**Hey all, I just had my computer fully repaired and hooked up to 32" TV screen with HD! Woot, woot. I've had it for two days now and I'm still really pumped about it but the reason that this news is relevant is that I can write from 'MY' computer and not the laptop so updates may or may not be that much quicker but I digress, here's the next chapter. Keep on writing people. XD**

**Super Intendant**

Upper Hollows

07:27

We trudged through a small opening that had developed since then and things were quite silent.

"Hey Varrick, you alright?"

I turned to him and he could see the lines of missing dirt from where I had tears rolling down my eyes.

"I guess not".

It wasn't that I was angry, I just didn't want to talk to anyone yet, I needed to sort things out in my head. I decided that it would be best to store it away for later and pulled out my Torque bow as I began to jog forward. They followed closely behind and we soon reached a point where we could see light at the far end of the small tunnel. I motioned for everyone to soften their steps a bit because it was echoing through the whole dam cavern. Stepping through the light I was momentarily blinded before I noticed what we had stepped into. We were stood inside a large rock dome which I guess wasn't a dome on the outside but aside from that it just got even more weird. Large rock walkways, painstakingly crafted were bridging all around the dome in no particular pattern and bellow us was a large crystal clear lake. The dome was illuminated brilliantly and I could see all the way to the other end. What I saw wasn't exactly a brilliant sight. I whispered to my team mates.

"Shit, Kantuses, get down!"

We ducked behind a nearby outcrop of boulders and I peered round the rocks to observe the enemy position. Ahead of us was the main entrance to some sort of secondary temple built into the rock-face of the dome and several Kantuses were patrolling its walls and grounds. I tried the com-peice but I didn't expect any results because of the horrible reception underground.

"Russell, this is Varrick, do you copy".

A patchy and static response came back in reply.

"Varrick, this is Russell, I read you but connection is terrible. What do you need?"

"I think I may have found a new back entrance into the temple or at least a short-cut. Is there any way of you being able to reach me from your position?"

"Uhhh... I'm not sure. The tunnel just lead deeper after we set off and it seems to be spiralling down and up at random intervals. Its taking us ages to travel even a tiny distance but we seem to be approaching some source of light".

"That's probably the dome we're situated in. Once you enter keep a low profile. It may be best for you to leave the Silverbacks a little bit away from the exit. We got to hit with stealth".

"Roger. We're ditching the Silverbacks now. What kind of resistance are we facing?"

I gave another peek at the held position.

"Seems like its a light rabble of Kantuses but I'm sure they have gun emplacements hidden around the building. Suggest precision weapons, repeat, 'precision weapons'".

"Got it, Russell over and out".

Shifting from my position I slowly worked my way around the rocks to get a better angle on my opponents across the dome. Anderson followed closely behind with his 'Bitch Slap' and Laurance found his own position with a Kickshot. I switched to my non-explosive bolts and powered one up, which in hindsight, wasn't the best idea ever. The Kantuses heard the charging of the magnetic coils as it echoed across the dome and they all dove for cover before I could even pull off a shot. The bolt continued to charge and I hoped one would be stupid enough to stick its head up. The bolt discharged and rebounded off the cave wall before splashing into the water below. The Kantuses used this as a signal and all rose with various weapons while screaming battle hymns. Gorgons, Lancers, Hammerbursts and Mulchers all bore down on my position but the heavy rattling of the Mulcher quickly ceased as the operators head exploded and all nearby foe where peppered with shotgun pellets. Laurance racked the pump on his Kickshot and took another shot blowing a Lancer from someone's hands and shredding them to pieces at the same time. But this was doing little to fend off the foe as they pressed the attack.

"Sit tight fellas! The cavalry has arrived!"

A column of C.O.G soldiers came storming over our heads on one of the upper walkways as they rained fire across the dome. The Kantuses stood almost no chance at all as explosives and precision weapons chewed away at their cover and quickly dispatched them. A few moments later, Douglas and Trickster came stomping in on the Silverbacks and began suppressing likely positions for gun emplacements. Their belief was not misplaced as hatches opened to reveal Troikas who's operators disintegrated into red mist. I used this as an opportunity to move up as fire was dwindling quickly. Skirting around the rock crop I came across a small rock pillar which supported the next walkway up. Clinging to the side I slowly began to ascend as Laurance came up behind me shortly after. Reaching my hand over the lip of the climb it was grabbed by someone and I was hoisted up by Russell.

"Nice to see you made it in one piece".

"I'm not here to die Russell".

His face softened up a bit as looked at me.

"Everything okay?"

"Not especially, no".

He left it at that and we set off down the walkway which descended into the front entrance of the temple, going through a gap in the walls. Douglas was the first to speak.

"Damn, this place is creepy as hell".

"I don't remember any of these parts from when I was younger".

We pushed on up to the main gate just observing all the carnage we had left in our wake when Anderson ordered us to halt.

"Anyone else hear that?"

The cave was playing tricks on us, or at least I hope it was. Low groans and howls could be heard emanating through every crevice of the cavern and the sounds only intensified as we moved closer to the large black doors of the temple. I placed my hand up against the surface of the door but was surprised as to what I found.

"Uh guys, its wood".

"So?"

"Trees don't grow down here".

The howling raised in pitch for a moment and we all raised our weapons but lowered them again as the sound retreated once more. I placed my shoulder against the heavy double doors and began to gently push on the doors. They didn't take much to move but they gave out creaky noises so bad that it would make the scariest house on the planet blush. What lay before us was a long black cave with a roof so high you could fit a Brumak in there. I struck the top of a flare and watched as the glow slowly descended into the blackened horizon. One or more of the gears grew restless a but and began bouncing their guns in their hands.

"This places freaks me the heck out".

"Stow it Sanchez".

"Sir... yes sir".

We began to walk inside and the gate slowly but steadily began to shut behind us. With a final 'thunk' we were locked inside the place that could hold untold horrors.

"Anyone else feel like this is a..."

Torches lit up all down the sides of the cave illuminating the path and stone bastions along the sides were revealed to us.

"...trap".

We expected gunfire but were greeted by the sound of something similar to slow clapping off in the distance. Someone began to walk out of the blackness a tall but thin posture and was supporting themselves by a large ceremonial staff of some kind. I scoped him on my Torque bow as he got closer but that only increased my confusion as the long robes he wore signalled to something different from what I was expecting. He stood about ten metres away from us and called across.

"My my, you've made quite the legacy for yourself, haven't you".

It was my turn to reply.

"An elder? I thought you were the first group taken care of in the coup. You supported the old religion, something Myyrah could do without".

He stepped closer and we began to see the wicked yet warm smile on his face.

"Yes, well not all of us died, as much as Myyrah has stated otherwise".

"So what are you doing here, guarded by Myyrah's forces like some sort of V.I.P?"

He dismissed this claim with a wave of his hand.

"Bah! Hardly! I've been imprisoned here for years. She expects to use me as some sort of leverage should some small portion of Locust ever rebel".

"And what of the rest of the guards?"

"There aren't any left. You wiped them all out with that little assault of yours".

"So your free?"

"I guess but I have no intention of leaving just yet. I'm going to wait for this whole war to die down then take command of whatever Locust forces remain when Myyrah is overthrown. Maybe then we can have some peace for once".

"So I suppose your not helping us then?"

He crossed his arms.

"That depends on what you want".

"We're trying to assassinate the Queen while she's sheltered in the main temple".

"Good lord! She's using holy ground as a place of war and the Kantuses are just letting this happen".

"They've switched allegiance Elder. They're no longer as devoted to the old cause as they once were".

He contemplated the things he had heard and made up his mind quickly.

"Alright... I'll help you. Follow me".

He walked off to the left and up the sides of one of the bastions and we began to follow behind him. Coming to the top he pointed to his side at a smallish tunnel that raised quite steeply and was burnished with supports made of fancy metals.

"Up there you shall find salvation".

I nodded and we began to ascend. 

**I would like to apologize. Not only is this chapter late but its also smaller than I promised. I've been incredibly busy and one thing just kept jumping in front of the other. However, I will be starting the next chapter almost immeadiately.**


	25. Woman Behind The Mask

**Oh God, how did this chapter slip my mind? Well I have to start today then, oh well. In other news there's a gold mine of Halo 4 info on EvilSourceGaming. Go check it out and bask in the glorious divinity that is Halo. Keep on writing people. :)**

**Super Intendant**

Upper Hollows

07:40 29-01-12

'Varrick'

The cave stretched on for a very long time but eventually we came across what was deemed as salvation. Douglas didn't seem pleased.

"The fuck is this!"

We had emerged on a large platform which ringed around a support pillar for the hollows. It was quite eccentric with various levels of height linked by stone staircases making the platform a rather demented spiral shape going up and down the pillar. Mort importantly ahead of us was an extended part jutting from the main platform which seemed to have no purpose whatsoever I trudged up to the platforms edge and peered over. A smile broke across my face.

"Guys, I think he just made it easier for us".

"Off in the distance across a vast lake of imulsion was the Temple and even better was the courtyard where Myyrah would give speeches".

Russell came over to me and scoped the courtyard out with his Longshot.

"So this is going to be a snipe assassination".

"Simple enough, right?"

"We considering we have two One-shots and several Longshots... we have a fair chance of doing this over such a considerable distance".

I turned to the others.

"Alright everyone, I want this placed locked down and all snipers on the ledge. We're going to camp this one".

I could see the relief on everyone's faces for the fact that they didn't have to travel any more. They also knew the end was nigh and no-one had died which we could count our blessings for.

"Y'know Russell. I really feel like we can do this more than ever before".

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Kantus Temple

10:14 01-02-12

'RAAM'

RAAM stalked down the vast corridors of the Kantus temple. He was getting edgy with the Queen, every attempt he made to kill that traitorous dog was always ruined by her just as it was about to succeed. He had been following their trail of destruction for quite a few hours now and just as he was catching up he was called for another summoning. He didn't see her as quite the heroic leader she used to be. War could be an ugly thing but it definitely opened eyes and RAAM's eyes had definitely been opened as to how much of an incompetent fool she was. To think that he was one of the many Locust who helped her with the coup made him want to vomit. He barged past a group of initiate Kantuses and didn't even bother replying to their grunts of dissatisfaction. In his opinion, Kantuses were no better than the Queen, they were pompous morons who only had high rank because of their heritage. This temple was quite the marvel to behold though, massive chambers that made the palace look like a cardboard fort. He stomped round the corner that lead to the Queens chambers and was greeted by a massive 'thump' as he collided into something. He stumbled back as the other person fell to the floor.

"Hey watch were your going! I have an important meeting with the Queen and I..."

He realised he was looking at the Queen sitting on her ass on the floor with a rather irritated look on her face. He instantly reached down and offered her a hand and she took it as he began to apologise.

"My Queen! My deepest apologies, I didn't realise it was you".

"Forget about it RAAM".

She straightened out her dress and motioned for him to follow.

"Just because I'm a Queen doesn't mean I'm going to fly off the handle every time I get jostled about. I'm not weak you know".

"Yes my Queen, of course".

"And stop calling me that. I've known you well before my ascension and I would rather have someone use my real name for once. You can also cut the pompous royalty bull-crap".

"Uhm? Okay".

He began pacing next to her but just slightly behind so she could lead. They walked for a short while in silence as the switched between rooms and corridors. They eventually came across a very long corridor which ran the side of the building and instead of having a wall on the left side it had pillars which allowed you to view over a vast imulsion lake as waterfalls cascaded down a few of the gaps. In RAAM's opinion it was actually quite beautiful. As they began to walk down this piece of architectural art Myyrah began to talk.

"RAAM, do you remember how I first got here?"

"Yes Myyrah, you were found by a group of Kantuses exploring the surface for the first time. You were seen as quite the mythical creature".

She seemed to perk up a bit and giggled slightly.

"Yes I suppose I was but beside that what happened when they brought me down here".

"You were seen as a god for your ability to out-think anyone at that time. The Locust were quite a fickle race back then. But you raised us more or less to become beings of utmost importance".

"Do you also remember why I stayed down here and did not try to communicate with the surface in any way".

"I'm sure your going to tell me the same thing you tell everyone in every speech you do".

"RAAM, that speech is only half the truth".

RAAM nearly tripped where he stood when he heard the sentence leave Myyrah's mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it is true when I say the humans are masters of destruction and should be treated as such but it was a lie when I said they were incapable of having a firm civilisation".

"Then why wage war?"

"It took me many years to make up my mind on what to do but I choose it only in the best interests of the Locust. While many humans are open tolerant people I'm afraid those that get into government are often the sneaky, crafty, xenophobes of the bunch and all it takes for a civilisation to turn in arms is one particularly persuasive leader. Human history is full of them. I only attacked because my fear was that negotiations would do nothing but give them time to prepare an attack on us. What accelerated my plan was the progress that the Lambent were making. Had they not pushed so hard then maybe I would of took more time to think about it".

"Myyrah, this pretty much goes against everything you've ever taught to all of us".

"I know and I feel terrible about it but its too late now, we must continue to push and perhaps we can settle with having the humans as an under-species rather than wiping them out. Who knows, maybe they'll re-earn their place as a equal member of society. Though they will never be allowed to lead independently".

"Myyrah, I'm not sure others are going to like this".

She continued on down the corridor at a brisk pace forcing RAAM to step up his speed a bit and follow.

"It matters not any more. Now RAAM that is not the only reason I called you here. I'm sure that you are perfectly aware of that".

"Indeed Myyrah".

She took a swift turn to the left and continued on towards a large courtyard.

"I wish to know of your progress on hunting down our little defector".

"My Queen, he is proving to be very slippery when it comes to catching him. He is also a very capable fighter".

"But have you gotten any closer to him since your defeat on the surface".

RAAM virtually blushed as she recalled the little incident with the siege.

"Myyrah I must protest that my only reason for failure is the incompetence of the troops I have been assigned, if you were to just take some more qualified soldiers from..."

She snapped at him.

"That's enough RAAM! I am tired of your excuses. I'm sure your aware of your rival in command Skorge".

"I never liked him, the Kantuses are not to be trusted they are symbols of the old way".

"Whether you like him or not it doesn't change the fat that he has been pushing the invasion on the surface at twice the speed at which your doing so. I only promoted you above him because I have witnessed your merits first hand during the coup while he is new an inexperienced. Perhaps maybe though the new shall surpass the old at this point".

"Queen, I beg of you. Give me one more chance to deal with this little blemish".

She stood there for a moment and contemplated.

"Hmmm... Very well RAAM, one more chance, but! I would like you to know that this will be a joint task between you and Skorge and if you feel the men are acting as a liability then you two shall do this a as two man team. Stealth shall be the key to your victory".

RAAM bowed to her and just as he rose his head he caught a glint of something in his eye from across the lake.

"Queen get down!"

He shoved her aside and immediately took a Longshot round to the chest and dived as several other rounds of Longshot and One-shot attacked his prior location. He turned and saw that the Queen had already begun dashing back down the corridor seeking cover. He drew his Troika from his back and began peppering the ridge from which the hostile fire had arisen.

"I have you now you little traitorous dog".

**WOW... almost 2 weeks already. I would like to say that I'm sorry for the small chapter and the long wait. Its because I've entered that critical exam stage in my school life and I've been finding myself very pre-occupied with other things. So I would like to warn you now that this story is going to slow to a snails pace and be very annoying to wait for so occupy yourself with something else for now. But don't think for a second I wont be bringing some stuff to the table. Chapters will be really spaced and small for about the next month and a half but hang in there.**


	26. Breach and Clear

Upper Hollows

10:26 01-02-2012

'Varrick'

"Fuck we missed!"

Russell kicked his gun across the floor.

"We we're this fucking close".

He shoved his hand in my vision where he proceeded to show me a tiny gap between his fingers.

"That close!"

I slapped his hand away.

"Yeah but now we have to find a way out of here. This mission was a bust".

A gear called over to us.

"Sir, we have contacts!"

Reavers swooped overhead and peppered us with various munitions. Two gears fell before they could reach cover and others took minor bullet wounds as they escaped.

"Shit. Two men down!"

The Reavers touched down and began their barrage of rockets. After the initial volley we all rose from cover and fired at them with everything we had. The first Reaver dropped under a torrent of fire-power and the second one followed suit quite quickly. The third one took off again and escaped our arc of fire before we could gun it down. Grapple hooks flew into the air and latched onto the ledge and Therons began to ascend onto the platform and a brutal fire-fight ensued. They fired upon us with Ripper shotguns and Lancers, even the occasional Torque bow. We were loosing men quick, five soldiers were already dead and three more were unfit for combat but they still fought the best they could. Fire was still being traded as mortar shells began to arc through the large ceiling of the hollows and began to descend upon our position.

"Everyone retreat".

We pulled into the tunnel as the mortar shells pulped the ground before us and we backed further inside. The Therons followed but were chewed alive in the tight corners of the tunnel by our ranged firearms. We reached the inside of the asylum in which the Kantus elder resided, he was nowhere to be seen though.

"Varrick! Forget the old fogey and help get your ass in gear".

I nodded and backed out further into the large entrance but dived back in again as a hail of bullets ripped at my prior location. I called over to the others.

"They got Troikas pinned on the entrance, we can't get out this way".

Laurance pointed down the large dark tunnel the elder had originally emerged from.

"Everyone down the tunnel, now!"

No one needed to be told twice and we all dashed down the tunnel with Trickster and Douglas in close pursuit on the Silverbacks. Dashing down the tunnel went on for a good ten minutes before we came across anything of importance but once there we found something quite useful. Stood before us was a very large structure, one which I recognised easily.

"What is it Varrick?"

I turned to Russell.

"That is our key to salvation, 'The Temple of Harid'".

"Uh... what?"

I began to walk up to the large stone doors before us and scaled the walls to its right until I found a small opening in the wall. Inside I found a large wooden crank and began to turn it, as I did I continued to talk to Russell and the others.

"Basically this thing was a temple built long before recorded Locust history, we're not even sure if its Locust or not but the old religion stated that one day Armageddon would come and all the faithful shall be kept safe within its confines so they may repopulate the surface after and create a utopia".

"Huh, doesn't sound too different from Noah's ark".

"I thought vice versa when Aaron explained your religion to me. Perhaps there was once a deep correlation between the two".

With a final twist of the crank the large stone doors began to slip apart and revealed a brilliantly lit interior which seemed to stretch on forever in every direction. I descended from the hole in the wall and walked inside. The place was a gleaming yet eerie utopia in its own right. The darkness was noticeable in the distance but large artificial waterfalls of Imulsion and other grand structures dotted the place. It looked as though someone had taken a brilliant scene of surface countryside mixed with some rainforest and then reconstructed the thing almost flawlessly in stone. The trees were replace by pillars dotted around the place but everything else seemed correct enough, even a few vines and some moss grew in areas.

"Wow Varrick, your people did this?"

"Like I said before, no one really knows but we took it as a blessing nonetheless when we first discovered it. I wouldn't be too surprised if ancient Humans actually built this".

We advanced in further and I scaled the wall and closed it this side.

"There, that's the only entrance into this place we can hold out against anything coming from one entrance".

Douglas approached the rest of the group and pointed over the top of the Silverback.

"Wouldn't it be best to just continue on further and look for a better place to set up?"

"Douglas has a point Varrick".

I shrugged and gave in.

"Okay fine, we'll progress further in but I'm not even sure what we'll find".

We all nodded towards each other then I called out for the rest of the group to follow and it wasn't long until we came across something interesting. Well not came across it, more... heard it; a very large howl followed by a quick, wet snap and gurgling. Laurance raised his Lacer up further.

"Oh shit. I didn't like the sound of that!"

Walking on a bit further we came across a large opening in the ground that was once a lake of some sort. The gash had drained it and now down below you could see plenty of Imulsion everywhere. Another howl was heard but this one a bit more sick and twisted as though the thing was gurgling blood at the same time. A gear was the first one to spot what it was up in a large stone bell tower that stood upon a hill of similar material.

"Over there, Wretch! It's... glowing?"

Suddenly thousands of entities of all various sizes crawled out of every possible crevice as larger things bounded over the hills and all hell broke loose.


	27. Once More With Feeling

**Well here we are people, approaching the end of this story. There isn't long to go now, just three or four more chapters which will be released within the next 3 weeks. I hope your all enjoying the ride. On another note... well, I decided to skip the ODST fanfic for now but not completely giving up on it. I have two more projects which I will be switching between (one of which is not a conventional fanfic) each week. However certain people will know what this other project is but don't worry, my main focus will be on the one you will be experiencing. I've been working on its story ever since Chapter 3 came out for this story so there has been a lot of thought and research put into it. The reason I do not want to do the ODST fic is that I really don't have the inspirational spark and it will end up just grinding along slowly and probably go on Hiatus. Second Halo 4 is not too far away and I have a creeping suspicion that some things in the game will give me new, better ideas that blend into the story better so I'm putting quality above all the rest here. Pleases don't hate me. D:**

"Aw, this is loco!"

The gear who had just uttered these words was brought down by a slash to the throat from a Lambent Wretch who then proceeded to drag off his corpse before we could do anything about it. The air was hot and heavy with sound of mechanical 'clanks' and 'clinks' as various weapons tossed their deadly payload at the advancing targets. I, myself had taken to working up close with the Gnasher as each 'thump' was greeted with the satisfactory howl of pain from each creature it felled but the entities seemed to just continue advancing. They seemed not to care for its comrades, only that it could wrap its slimy claws around the throat of a victim.

"They just don't stop coming!" I screamed out as two particularly bulbous creatures leaped through the air as though they were made of helium and descended upon me. I swung my right hand forward with it still placed firmly on the grip of the handle and effectively clubbed the hideous creature across the jaw before the second one received a blast to the face, revealing the contents of its head as the matter flew from the back of its skull and landed on the floor with a sickly 'splash'. They were definitely Lambent and from what I could tell, had originally been Locust but the Imulsion had taken it a step further than anyone had ever seen previously and had proceeded to warp and mutate the host into a form which was nothing akin to the original body.

We had been slowly advancing down the slope of the drained lake and with each step under the craggy rock my hope grew as we approached the hole in the centre. The plan was to descend down said hole if it was at all possible and if it wasn't, well then things would turn ugly very fast. Not all was going well though every few steps we would loose a soldier to the endless tide of monstrosities, either being sliced apart or pulled under the stampede of the advancing swarm. One though kept going through my mind but I couldn't quite place where I had heard it or what the hell it even meant as it kept repeating itself in my mind, 'Zerg rush'! Now wasn't a time to deliberate on that fact and I focused on just backing off slowly bit by bit as each pull of my Gnasher's trigger bought me a few more moments of precious life.

"Shit!" Russell howled out in pain as a large claw penetrated his thigh and retreated before he could severe it with his combat knife. Instead he brought the blade down, back handed into the skull of another bulbous creature and smiled as it golden blood splattered all over his face. Licking his lips he drew his Snub and flicked the blade into his right hand which then held the sharp object under the pistol creating a nice defensive stance for stationary fighting but that was the problem, it was for stationary fighting.

"Russell! What the fuck do you think your doing? Pull back." I called over to him but he didn't budge instead he took another claw to the gut before plunging the blade into the eye socket of another creature which dropped like a sack of rocks. He proceeded to unload round after round from his pistol into advancing foes but they were gaining ground on him.

"Varrick, get the others out of here!" He yelled across without looking back. Which meant he failed to notice me charging across to him with dual-wield Gnashers, one of which I had picked up off a fallen gear on the run over. I was already aware the stupid S.O.B was trying to be a hero but enough men had already died. Just as the fatal blow was about to strike him, I lowered both barrels on the unaware creature and squeezed the triggers feeling an immense amount of force being stabilized by only one hand each. The shotguns bucked in my hands like raging Brumaks and the creatures upper torso was reduced to Swiss cheese and various liquefied organs spilled from the wounds along with its bodily fluids. Russell couldn't even turn around before I yanked him by the strap on his back and clipped it onto a small hook jutting from the bottom of my chest plate so I could back-off with both weapons still free to fire. Before he could twist his head around and thank me I gave him a swift kick between the legs and he let out a pained groan.

"Try anything like that again and I'll kill you myself." He nodded his head and smiled through the pain as he brought his snub up again and began shooting the horde as I fired my akimbo Gnashers while stepping backward with him in tow. It wasn't long until we reached the others who were already grouped around the hole. Now with a better perspective on it the drop was nowhere near as deep as it had previously looked and it seemed that a land bridge ran down the tunnel it connected to but around the land bridge laid thousands of small lakes of Imulsion (*think of the coolant pools in the canyon on the level 'Keyes' on Halo:CE*). Trickster and Douglas were the first to go as each Silverback gave a small leap and dropped onto the land bridge below. The standard gears were next to follow joined shortly after by the other higher commanding soldiers such as Anderson. Slowly everyone was down the hole but me and Russell. I unhooked him and lobed him over the edge for the others to catch and then I myself took a blind step backwards and off the edge. The drop was short but my legs buckled when I landed and my ass planted firmly on the floor before I could do anything else. Rising off the floor the entire group began a mad dash towards my right so we could clear the landing zone of the Lambent who would surely be following us but the advantage would be on our side this time. We settled on a small mound of boulders and awaited for the hideous creatures to drop in our pursuit but none came for us and this struck fear in my heart deeply, Lambent never passed up a chance for more hosts and I was sure that they could use human bodies.

"You think their stupid enough to forget about us?" Said Laurance holding onto his Kickshot with an especially tight grip.

"No." I replied. "They may be monsters but their far from stupid." I of all people would know this, I had fought them whole-heartedly in the waning days of the first Lambent assaults when we pushed them back to their horrible little caves and caverns. They had obviously re-populated and were trying another push into inner hollow land so they could take Nexus, effectively sealing their victory over the Locust. "For now we just need to keep pushing and get the hell out of here." I looked around at the faces of sorrow that were plastered on everyone's faces. This situation was probably the worst thing I had ever been stuck in.

"What do you think they're doing up there?" A gear asked. Explosions could now be heard across the cavern as gun fire ripped through the air and presumably the Lambent, now was the best time to move.

"I think the Locust have shown up, now would be a good time to leave." We got up and began to move through the vast canyon and away from whatever the hell the Locust had flung at the lambent. It wasn't long until we came across something we did not expect to see. We stood atop a large cliff that overlooked a massive plain of flat land that stretched on forever in every direction. Occupying this flat land were thousands upon thousands of stalks and plenty of spawning pools to boot as the Lambent slowly grew something akin to an army. We stayed well away from the edge and slowly made out way around the tunnels that turned the area into a honeycomb to encompass the vast growing field.

"Bloody hell, there's a whole army of these things." Russell was at a loss for words as the scene played out before him like some sort of sick and twisted documentary. This was the largest gathering of lambent I had ever seen and in a while the Locust guard would run right into them. As if on cue the elite forces of the Locust Royal guard let out a mighty battle roar as they charged out a large cave entrance on the ground floor. Reavers swooped in and everything went to hell in ten seconds flat as Locust and Lambent might clashed at close quarters. A tactic like that would be suicide for the Locust on a regular basis but the Royal Guard savaged the lambent with long blades made for maiming all in their path. At the forefront of this carnage was RAAM himself with his usual shield of krill and a blade that made the other swords look like safety scissors. He chopped and hacked his way through the hideous creatures with lethal efficiency, every down stroke of his blade meant one or two more Lambent ridden from this world. Both armies were grinding against each other in a melee combat of attrition. The Locust had the skill but the Lambent had the numbers, every lambent who fell another ten would take its place, whereas every Locust who fell just meant a weaker army. The outcome was painfully obvious but we didn't stick around to see the victor. Laurance had done us the courtesy of scouting ahead with several gears and had found us a tunnel which didn't loop back around or stop at a dead end. With the higher ground blocking the enemy's view of us we set off down said tunnel and hoped for the best.

**To be perfectly honest I'm starting to lose all patience with this story. My skills have become rusty and my other projects are far more enticing but I'm not going to give you guys the proverbial middle finger so I will finish this to the best of my ability but I don't think I'm ever going to do a gears fic again. It was a bad idea to start with.**


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